EDITOR’S NOTE

NAFL Aiming ForNew Heights

EDITORIAL

DAVID PHILLIPSEditor-in-Chief

JOEL TANContributing Writer

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LACHELLE AREVALO- SAKER

Copyright 2012 National Asso-ciation of Freight and Logistics, Sheikh Zayed Road, After Defense Roundabout, Ground Floor, Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins Building, Dubai 60944, United Arab Emir-ates. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means elec-tronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

JUAN CLAUDIO ALEGROLayout Artist

NAFL MEDIA DESKmediadesk@nafl.ae

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PRESS ANDPUBLISHING

1SMSwww.1SMS.asia

Dear Colleagues,

Earlier in the year, the NAFL expressed a firm interest in hosting the 2015 FIATA World Congress (FWC) in Abu Dhabi. With support from Etihad Airlines, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and Abu Dhabi

Ports Company, we were one of the three countries shortlisted for 2015; the other two being Qatar and Taiwan. Our bid has since been submitted and the winning bid will be announced in October, at the 2012 FIATA World Congress in Los Angeles. Let’s keep our fingers crossed! Dubai has hosted two very successful Congresses in the past, and our past success, hopefully, will hold us in good stead. Should we be successful, more than 1000 delegates from over 180 countries will get to experience true “UAE Hospitality” and a deep insight into how this country has developed and into future plans leading to Abu Dhabi’s “Vision 2030.”

The NAFL is aiming for new heights of excellence. Last year, we contracted the services of insurance expert Adam Greaves to provide claims advice to our members. Seeing the need of NAFL members to address risks, the NAFL has launched a new training course in Insurance, which Adam will be managing. In this issue, you will know more about the course, as Adam talks more about the subject of risk management and liability insurance.

We are also following closely the International Air Transport Association (IATA) e-Freight initiative. What is e-Freight and what does it have to do with the UAE supply chain and logistics industry? According to IATA, e-Freight is a global initiative that aims to take the paper out of the air cargo supply chain, making messaging cheaper, accurate and reliable. Imagine this: Every air cargo shipment carries with it as many as 30 paper documents. If you sum this up for an entire year, that’s enough paper to fill 80 Boeing 747 freighters every year. We can help get rid of this very environmentally destructive practice by supporting the IATA initiative. E-Freight is a noble motive and one that the NAFL wholeheartedly supports.

There are more stories of success in this third issue of NAFL News, including updates on the Young International Freight Forwarders Award (YIFFA) and on the NAFL membership drive across other emirates in order to be truly recognized as the only voice of the freight forwarding and logistics community in the UAE.

Start flipping the pages!Thank you for your continued support…

David PhillipsPresident

info@1sms.asia

NAFL OPENFORUM

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WHAT’S INSIDE

NAFL ASSISTS MEMBER3

The NAFL, through insurance and claims expert Adam Greaves, has helped a member in finding a resolution in its year-old claim against a freight forwarding company based in the United Kingdom.

ASHOKSPEAKS4

The NAFL Advisory Board Member gives us a glimpse of what is, what can be, and what could have been in an inter-view about the Association’s path to the future, its current successes and trials, and its 20-year history.

SHARJAH INT’LAIRPORT13

The Sharjah International Airport is embarking on a 140-million-dollar expansion project that will secure its place as the leading air transportation gateway in the Mid-dle East.

PAPERLESSAIR FREIGHT8

Mazen Al-Homsi, manager for services in the Gulf Area for the International Air Transport Association, highlights the benefits of e-Freight, an initiative that seeks to reduce the use of paper in the transport of goods via airfreight.

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MINIMISE RISKS!Take the insurance course at NAFL Training Institute

With risk management fast becoming a top concern about supply chain and logistics companies, the need for insurance,

particularly liability insurance, has never been more important.

In the United Arab Emirates, where these industries play a pivotal role in the economy, the National Association of Freight and Logistics (NAFL), the Arabian Gulf ’s first formal grouping of freight forwarders and logistics companies, is seeking ways to address this need.

The organization’s first step in making sure all areas of risk management are covered, a move they started in the latter part of the previous year, is the introduction of a liability insurance consultant. For the NAFL leadership, there is no better man for the job than Adam Greaves.

In the past year, Greaves has been guiding NAFL members in navigating the once-intricate web that is insurance, and often with fantastic results.

“The NAFL firmly believes that being insured is a badge of quality and corporate responsibility. The Association aims to give NAFL members a simple, tailor-made policy,” Greaves aid in an interview with NAFL News a few months ago when asked about the NAFL’s new thrust of providing quality insurance consultancy services to its members.

RISK MANAGEMENTIn the same interview, Greaves underscored the

importance of insurance: “Having insurance shows your clients that you are serious and mean business.”

Fast forward to today, we ask Greaves about the role of insurance in risk management in the supply

COVER STORY: NAFL TRAINING INSTITUTE INSURANCE COURSE

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chain and logistics industries.“There can be no real risk management without

insurance,” he explained. “Insurance, and specifically liability insurance, is the safety net of risk management. It is the ultimate protection for a company.”

With such intimate knowledge of the insurance industry, it is not surprising for Adam Greaves to be tapped as the resident expert to teach the new insurance course at the National Association of Freight and Logistics Training Institute.

The new course features seven modules: Introduction to Standard Trading Condition and Liability, the FIATA Bill of Lading, Marine Law and Liability, Insurance Basics, Liability Insurance, Transport Insurance, and Claims Handling Procedure.

Under these modules, participants to the course are expected to learn a myriad array of topics, including legal position of standard trading conditions, liability exposure of freight forwarders and ship owners, and best practices in claims management and prevention.

The introduction of an insurance course at the NAFL Training Institute is not entirely a new idea. It has been brewing on the planning table of the current Board of Directors since last year.

Plans were drawn up for the insurance course when the NAFL leadership saw an opportunity for advancement in the challenge of helping increase the credibility of member-companies and their commitment to quality.

Adam Greaves sums up the need for an insurance course at the NAFL Training Institute quite nicely: “ Despite a company’s best efforts to put systems in place in its own organization, and to effect quality control of its suppliers and subcontractors, things may still go wrong.”

And this, he said in a recent interview, is where learning about insurance comes in for a lot of companies, both within and outside the NAFL.

INSURANCE COURSEGreaves said the main aim of the insurance course

is to give participants a clear understanding of how insurance works and what the liability of the freight forwarder is.

“There is still a common misconception in the industry that the forwarder is ‘only an agent.’ This has not been the case now for a number of years,

and we believe that employees need to be aware that the forwarder generally acts as principal as far as the client is concerned,” Greaves said.

At the end of the training, Greaves said participants should know what the forwarder’s liability is, what insurance the company should have, how to handle a claim properly and professionally, and how to keep the customer satisfied that the forwarder is acting in a professional manner.

“These are the basics,” he pointed out. “After studying the course, the participant will have a clear idea not only of the forwarder’s liability but also how the forwarder can protect himself and his customer.”

The NAFL Training Institute is planning to eventually streamline the modules, either merging them with other, similar modules or removing them from the course.

The goal of this streamlining?“We should be able to offer the entire course over

a weekend of intensive full-day sessions. This would enable students to attend with minimal disruption of their work schedule,” Greaves said.

The modules of the insurance course are currently being taught in over 21 hours of classroom attendance, which is done in the evening after work, usually from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

ENROLLING IN THE COURSEWhen asked about who would benefit most

from taking the new insurance course at the NAFL Training Institute, Greaves said anyone from any supply chain and logistics organization -- that is, anyone who wanted to learn what insurance in these industries is all about.

“I recommend this to anyone who is likely to find himself with a problem on his desk or a concerned customer on the telephone,” Greaves said. “Middle management, customer service staff, financial officers may also benefit from it. The list is endless.”

The course, however, is not limited to these people.

“We have also had people attending who have had no daily dealings with claims and insurance, but simply wanted to learn,” he said.

Greaves further explained that attending the course did not require any legal background.

“No legal background is needed. It helps if the student has been exposed to claims, but all that is really needed is a willingness to learn,” Greaves said. b

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RESOLVED!What should you do if your company has an

existing claims issue?Expolanka Freight, a member of the

National Association of Freight and Logistics since 2005, knew exactly what to do when they wanted to settle a long-standing claims issue they had against a freight forwarder in the United Kingdom.

Expolanka brought their case before the NAFL through Adam Greaves, the association’s resident claims and insurance adviser.

“A freight forwarder asked Expolanka in August 2011 to handle a shipment from Dubai to Kigali in Rwanda. The cargo was for the Rwandan Ministry of Defense. The goods were supposed to be transferred by air. Expolanka accepted the job and immediately arranged the shipment,” Greaves said.

When the cargo reached Nairobi, however, a technical problem prevented the forwarding of the shipment to Kigali by air, Greaves recalled.

“There were two options for Expolanka: to move the cargo from Nairobi to Kigali by road or to return the cargo to Dubai by air and find a different route from the original Dubai-Nairobi-Kigali route,” he said.

The first option was faster considering that moving the cargo back to Dubai would have been complicated and time consuming.

“So Expolanka contacted the recipient of the cargo in Kigali and got approval to complete the transport by land. The cargo was safely delivered, but two days later than the estimated date,” Greaves said.

Expolanka’s customer, the freight forwarder in the United Kingdom who initially paid 60 percent of the agreed freight charges, did not see it as a successful delivery.

“They refused to pay the remaining balance, alleging that Expolanka did not get the job done properly, causing them losses,” Greaves said.

He said the refusal left Expolanka with USD 33,000 in unpaid service dues.

After numerous attempted to collect from the UK-based freight forwarder over a period of eight months, Expolanka decided to bring up their plight with the NAFL.

“After analyzing the clauses on the reverse side of the airway bill issued by Expolanka to the freight forwarder in the United Kingdom, we found that these were effectively similar to those used by the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, or FIATA,” Greaves said.

He added: “We noted that the debtor was a member of the BIFA, or British International Freight Association, a professional association for the freight and logistics industry in the United Kingdom and a member of FIATA. The freight forwarder in the UK is obliged to comply with the BIFA code of professional conduct, as well as its standard terms and conditions.”

What won the case for Expolanka is the airway bill clause stating that “the carrier has the right to vary the route with due regard to the customer’s interest.”

“We pointed out that the change in route or mode of transport was within Expolanka’s contractual rights. Expolanka did the right thing by informing the recipient of the situation and seeking his approval to move the cargo by land instead of by air,” Greaves said.

Greaves said the NAFL wrote the freight forwarder in the United Kingdom and pointed out their contractual and professional obligations under the airway bill and as a member of a FIATA-affiliated organization.

“In early June, Expolanka contacted us and reported that they had already received payment from the UK-based freight forwarder,” he said. b

NAFL Assists Expolanka in Claims Issue

FEATURE STORY: NAFL ASSISTS IN CLAIMS ISSUE

FEATURE STORY: ASHOK THOMAS ON THE NAFL

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Ashok Thomas was there at the beginning, when seven people got together and worked on the idea of establishing an association

of supply chain management, logistics and freight forwarding companies and professionals to join the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA).

To say that the National Association of Freight and Logistics had a rough start or a violent birth may be an understatement--Ashok and company failed three times to launch the association because it was misconstrued as a trade organization.

“We wanted to join FIATA so the industry in the United Arab Emirates would gain international recognition. We aimed at being at par with international competitors by learning international best practices,” said Ashok, a member of the NAFL Advisory Board.

Initially called the National Committee of Freight Forwarders, the NAFL was eventually admitted into FIATA after being recognized as a non-profit organization and including government representatives in the board.

Today, the organization that Ashok helped establish 20 years ago is robust and expanding its horizons.

So is there no room for improvement?“There are a few things that I’d like to see NAFL

accomplish in the next five to ten years,” Ashok said.

NAFL AND THE FUTUREIn an interview, Ashok said the new NAFL

Executive Board should take “serious steps in reinventing the Association to stay relevant not only in the local industry scene but also internationally.”

Once NAFL leads in doing this, Ashok said, many member-companies would follow suit and innovate in the way they do business.

“This would continuously improve the Association, the industry, the companies, as well as the individual professionals,” he said.

Of course, focusing on reinventing the NAFL should not be the only goal for the next decade. Ashok pointed out other worthy goals that the Association, through its executive board, was already realizing.

PAST, PRESENT, FUTUREAshok Thomas on the NAFL’s

Ashok Thomas (right) with Dubai Trade CEO Mahmood Al Bastaki.

FEATURE STORY: ASHOK THOMAS ON THE NAFL

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First, Ashok said, the NAFL should continue to build and maintain good relations with government agencies and private stakeholders to come up with solutions to concerns or improve the practices in the industry.

Second, “we need to focus more on training in order to improve the quality of professionals in the United Arab Emirates,” he added.

The Association has already embarked on fulfilling these goals through two very important programs: the regular Open Forum and the NAFL Training Institute.

When asked whether he thought the NAFL as an organization was on the right track to fulfilling its mandate--that of adding value to its members by facilitating training programs and networking activities that enhance not only business performance but also maintain the UAE’s preeminence in the international freight and transportation industries--Ashok replied:

“I believe so, but we could always do more.”

NAFL AND THE PRESENTAs a member of the NAFL Advisory Board, part

of Ashok’s duties is, as the name of the grouping suggests, to advise the Association on plans, programs and projects.

He said the NAFL, its executive board, its members and other practitioners should not lose sight of one guiding principle in being part of an association.

“They should realize that in order for an association to reach its full potential and provide relevant services to its members, they should be selfless in their intentions,” Ashok said.

Ashok said the Association should also avoid conducting activities that would label it as a trade group.

He cited two crucial steps that would help maintain the Association’s integrity through any challenge.

First, it is crucial for the NAFL to stay away from “groupism.” Groupism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is the tendency to conform to the cultural pattern of a group at the expense of individualism and cultural diversity.

Second, it is similarly crucial to continue building relations with government agencies, especially those governing seaports, airports,

customs and business, in a capacity that will enable the industry to maintain a competitive edge in the international scene.

To push for these improvements, Ashok said sub committee heads should take their responsibilities seriously and be more accountable for the improvement of their respective committees.

“They should continuously update and take the lead in pushing for improvement for the areas they are heading,” he said.

NAFL AND THE PASTAshok said the NAFL and the current Executive

Board may gain insights into worthwhile programs from the past administration.

“We used to have awards and recognitions given to government agencies, individuals and companies that have helped the industry,” he said. “I’d like to see the new board seriously think of bringing it back, and doing it properly should they decide to do it again.”

While he lauded the Association’s renewed thrust of strengthening the NAFL Training Institute by adding new modules, Ashok said the industry--supply chain management, logistics, and freight forwarding--need more than just technical training.

“I wish the new board will look into providing non-technical training. A lot of members will benefit greatly from training in management, advertising, business, administration, and marketing,” he explained.

In reaction to the question of what he would like to change if he could go back in time and organize NAFL again, Ashok raised a few points, including revisiting the introduction and implementation of liability coverage for members and ensuring members were practicing according to reputable international standards.

“I would like the board to take this forward strongly. I used to head the ethics and standards sub committee, which is why I would like these to be continued in order to maintain the good reputation not only of practitioners but also the country as a serious player in the freight forwarding and logistics industry,” he said.

“This will surely improve our logistics performance index as well as our respective businesses,” Ashok added. b

FEATURE: NAFL OPEN FORUM AT DUBAI TRADE

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Dubai Trade FZE, the leading trade faciliator under Dubai World, has organized the Freight Forwarders Forum in col-laboration with the National Association of Freight and Lo-gistics and Jebel Ali Free Zone. The forum aims to create a permanent and effective platform for Dubai Trade to receive feedback and find solutions to any relevant issues the trad-ing community may have. Present at the first forum were En-gineer Mahmood Al Bastaki, CEO of Dubai Trade, David Phillips, president of NAFL, and Adil Al Zarooni, senior vice president, Global Sales - EZW, parent company of Jafza.

FEATURE: NAFL OPEN FORUM AT SHARJAH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

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NAFL OPEN FORUMDubai Trade, Sharjah Int’l Airport Host Association

Sharjah Airport Authority and the National Association of Freight and Lo-gistics organized an Air Cargo Forum at the Sharjah International Airport where decision-makers and top officials tackled various issues related to growth and improvement of the cargo industry. At the forum were NAFL president David Phillips, SAA chairman Dr. Ghanem Al Hajri, Sheikh Khalid bin Issam Al Qassimi, director general of the Sharjah Depart-ment of Civil Aviation, and Sheikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Qassimi, chairman of Seaports and Customs.

FEATURE STORY: IATA E-FREIGHT

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GO PAPERLESS!A paperless process. This is one of the things

businesses are striving for ever since the introduction of the Internet, email and, later,

cloud computing. There is also of course continuous calls for environment-friendly practices with cam-paigns ranging from cutting down on carbon emis-sions to--you guessed it--doing away with paper use.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is doing its share in this global environmen-tal awareness campaign with the e-Freight initiative. What exactly is e-Freight and what does it mean to air cargo companies and its clientele?

“E-Freight is a set of business processes and stand-ards that, when applied, allows the air cargo indus-

try to transport freight from origin to destination without the need to produce and carry a number of accompanying documents in original paper format,” said Mazen Al-Homsi, manager for services in the Gulf Area for IATA.

Mazen was downplaying the amount of paper wasted in coming up with these documents to trans-port even just a small piece of cargo.

In 2010, a single box of cargo could be accompa-nied by as many as 30 documents, only 20 of which would be covered by the e-Freight initiative. Twelve of the 20 e-Freight-covered documents were manda-tory and eight were optional.

Mandatory documents included invoice, packing

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FEATURE STORY: IATA E-FREIGHT

www.nafl.ae

IATA E-FREIGHT

list, master air waybill, house waybill, house manifest, export goods declaration, customs release export, flight manifest, export cargo declaration, import cargo declaration, import goods declaration, and cus-toms release import.

THAT’S A LOT OF PAPER!This is what e-Freight aims to address, and not

just for the environmental impact. Implementing e-Freight also seeks to lower document processing cost, increase efficiency, improved delivery time, reduced inventory time, and increased market share for the air cargo industry.

The old and current system of transporting cargo via aircraft while effective a few decades ago is now outdated if not totally obsolete.

Mazen sums the paper system up in a few words: Inefficient. Slower than it needs to be. Less secure than it should be. Unfriendly environment. Out-dated.

“With e-Freight significant costs can be eliminated from document production, document handling, document archiving, and data recapture tasks, which benefit stakeholders in the supply chain industry,” he said.

“However, e-Freight is not just about saving money for the supply chain industry. It’s also about

improving the overall standard of operation of the industry for the benefit of its clients. E-Freight can reduce the end-to-end-transit times for air freight, reduce errors, improve customer service and quality, as well as supply chain security,” Mazen added.

Operating electronically within e-Freight im-proves quality of service in a number of ways:

• Data validation rules can be introduced, avoid-ing mistakes in the initial data capture;

• Single capture of accurate data at source and transmission for re-use by other parties reduces errors linked with re-keying the same data several times;

• Electronic documents are less likely to be mis-

placed or lost. For example:- At origin, cargo sometimes miss its flight due to

missing documents such as the air waybill. So with the e-AWB (electronic air waybill) , cargo will always fly.

- At destination, cargo has been known to be delayed due to paper documents traveling with the goods being lost in transit, and not being available to clear the goods. Electronic documents are difficult to lose in transit, and can be re-transmitted more instantaneously than paper ones.

• Electronic documents can be sent ahead of the goods facilitating advance customs formalities, and faster release of cargo on arrival, meaning goods get to market earlier, and suppliers can get paid on time, which means supply chain clients are happy.

“Regulators are increasingly seeking electronic information at an early stage of the supply chain process in order to perform risk analysis to improve safety and security,” Mazen said. “Sourcing the cor-rect information at the earliest opportunity helps improve air cargo security and avoids possible delays while security risk analysis is being performed at various points in the supply chain.”

Recently, the World Customs Organization ac-knowledged in an announcement to its members that the benefits of e-Freight for government authori-

ties include the provision of advanced electronic data that allows for more effective risk management screening and targeted interventions.

Mazen pointed out that electronic documents were also more difficult to alter, falsify or replace with substitutes, reducing the risk of fraud or mis-declaration or misrepresentation to authorities.

This is even made more secure by the fact that only a select people can access the electronic docu-ments.

IMPLEMENT E-FREIGHTSo what is needed to implement e-Freight?First, the legal basis needs to be established, Ma-

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zen explained.“To enable the paper trans-

portation documents, such as air waybills and flight manifests, to be replaced by electronic messages, the Montreal Convention of 1999 (MC99) needs to be ratified by a country’s government,” he said.

“Government authorities also need to have a signed letter of in-tent to implement the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards in ac-cordance with the Revised Kyoto Convention, that recommends paperless customs processes be replaced by electronic e-Customs platforms,” Mazen added.

The United Arab Emirates has already met these two require-ments: it has ratified MC99 and the letter of intent to implement WCO SAFE Framework of Stand-ards has been signed.

E-Freight implementation also requires a country to have a prac-tical application of the e-Customs platform to be in place.

“Finally, since replacing paper documents with electronic data is a profound transformation from the traditional paper based way of doing business along the supply chain, people need to reengineer their business pro-cesses, learn to work differently, and most importantly learn to trust this new way of doing busi-ness,” Mazen said.

UAE AND E-FREIGHTThe IATA vision for e-Freight

targets 2015 for 100 percent com-pliance in feasible locations across the globe. How far along is the United Arab Emirates in imple-menting full e-Freight?

“The Middle East is showing leadership, particularly through the work of Emirates, and the

fact that the Emirate of Dubai has embraced a paperless supply chain process,” Mazen said.

“Dubai has achieved upwards of 20 percent penetration of e-Freight trade lanes, compared to 4.7 percent in Europe and 1.8 per-cent in the Americas,” he added.

Mazen pointed out, however, that other countries in the GCC were still waiting to endorse the

principle of paperless cargo de-spite the fact that most GCC states had already ratified MC99 and signed the WCO letter of intent.

“IATA, with its industry part-ners in the Global Air Cargo Ad-visory Group and in partnership with the WCO, will continue to press the GCC states to adopt new policies with regards to this issue and we hope they will follow the Dubai example,” he said.

Even good plans have stum-bling blocks, though, and for e-Freight implementation in the

UAE, it is existing regulations.“Many states insist on paper

being provided specifically for customs purposes without which the clearance process cannot be facilitated,” Mazen explained. “This means that whatever Dubai as an Emirate allows as a paperless e-Freight process, it is dependent on its global training partners to also accept paperless proceses, to enable the benefits of a paperless supply chain to be realized.”

PARTIAL E-FREIGHT: E-AWBA recent e-Freight case study

shows Cathay PAcific imple-menting partial e-Freight with e-AWB as the first step. Is there any company in the Middle East that has already implemented e-AWB?

“Yes, Emirates and a number of airlines as well as many freight forwarders have already imple-mented e-AWB out of UAE,” Mazen revealed.

According to Mazen, IATA’s cargo committee agreed to set a target of six percent of e-AWB adoption on trade lanes with the needed regulatory environment by the end of 2011, and 100 percent by the end of 2014.

“Replacing the paper air way-bill with an electronic version, however, is just the start -- some 20 separate documents have the chance to be replaced by digital versions in the e-Freight vision,” Mazen said.

“Our target is to roll out e-Freight 100 percent by 2015 across the industry in countries where the legal and regulatory environ-ment permits it. But this can only be done in stapes and with the full support of the entire air cargo chain,” he added. b

FEATURE STORY: IATA E-FREIGHT

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The NAFL is calling on young freight forward-ers in the country to submit their entries for the prestigious annual Young International

Freight Forwarders Award (YIFFA).Launched in 1999, the YIFFA was established to

encourage the professional development and training of young people in the freight forwarding industry. This annual award is organized by FIATA, TT Club and IATA.

The award is open to any young freight forwarder, providing that their company is a member of the NAFL, no more than 30 years old in the year that the dissertation is to be written and has completed at least 2 years of full-time forwarding work.

In 2011, the United Arab Emirates had a candidate at the YIFFA in the person of 24-year-old Niranjan Venkatesh of TransWorld Logistics. The NAFL submitted Niranjan’s dissertation to the organizers of YIFFA, wherein consequently it was chosen as the best piece among other contenders in the Region Africa Middle East (RAME). Niranjan went on to vie for the award against 3 other representatives from Mexico, representing Region Americas; Hong Kong,

THE SEARCH IS ON!YIFFA 2013

representing Region Asia/Pacific; and Ireland, representing Region Europe.

Although the YIFFA 2011 title eventually went to Silvia Valles Barrera from Ireland, the NAFL was thrilled and proud to have had a candidate from the UAE, representing the whole RAME, while carrying the name of the association in an esteemed awards ceremony.

Each member National Association f FIATA is entitled to present one candidate. In order for NAFL to make the selection for the UAE, the applications are needed on or before October 15, 2012.

The winner for the YIFFA will receive two weeks of practical and academic training. One week of aca-demic training is in London and the other week in one of the TT Club’s regional centers: London, Hong Kong or New Jersey. The award also includes one year free subscription of the International Transport Journal (ITZ), Switzerland and International Freight-ing Weekly (UK).

For more information on how to submit your en-tries, please call the NAFL Secretariat at 04- 3431112 or send an email to nafl@emirates.net.ae with the subject title “YIFFA 2013”. b

YIFFA 2011 UAE representative Niranjan Venkatesh with Issa Baluch and David Phillips.

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Second of a series

In line with this year’s celebration of the National Association of Freight and Logistics’ 20th anniversary, NAFL News has interviewed the 21 member companies that have been with the association since its founding.

The National Association of Freight and Logistics was formed primarily to bring together in one body all the major players in the United Arab Emirates freight

forwarding, logistics and shipping industries.There were 21 founding members: ADSO Services, Al

Fadhil Cargo, Al Futtaim Logistics, Al Rais Cargo, Aramex, Aratrans, Asia Express Shipping, DCFC Clearing Dubai, Dnata, Dubai Express, Freight International, Freight Systems, Gulf Agency, Kanoo Group, Maltrans, Modern Freight, Peeraj Clearing, Royal Air Cargo, SNTTA, Stalco, and Trident.

In the first installment of this series, representatives of ADSO, Al Rais Cargo, AFCO-Al Fadhil Cargo, Al Futtaim, Asia Express, and Aratrans spoke about unity and loyalty being high priorities of NAFL founding members.

In this issue, the second part of the series, representatives of Dubai Express (L.L.C.) (Freightworks Branch) and dnata air their thoughts on the advantages of membership in the NAFL, their companies’ contributions to the association, and the NAFL’s plans for the future of the organization and the industry.

Founded in 1959, dnata is probably the oldest

company that has helped found the NAFL. Back then, it was a small ground-handling operation with just five members. A few years since its founding, the organization quadrupled in size.

Today, dnata is a model company, employing more than 20,000 people in 38 countries across five continents.

“Our expertise in grounding handling, cargo, travel and flight catering has earned us over 30 awards and the admiration of the industry,” said dnata vice president for cargo business development Kevin Ennis.

Dubai Express is an industry veteran as well. It started operations in 1976 and has since become one of the leading document clearing companies in the United Arab Emirates.

When asked what advantages their companies gain from being members of the NAFL, Ennis replied: “Being an NAFL member provides us with another, valuable channel for maintaining close interaction with our customers, to understand our customers’ needs better and work together to jointly resolve problems facing the logistics industry.

Steen Hartwig, managing director of Dubai Express (L.L.C.) (Freightworks Branch), on the other hand, cited staff training at the NAFL Training Institute as one of the best perks his company gains from the association.

Founding member companies also give back to the association. Ennis, who is currently NAFL Executive Board vice president, pointed out that knowledge sharing

FOUNDING MEMBERSdnata, Dubai Express talk about giving back to NAFL

ENNIS HARTWIG

FEATURE STORY: FOUNDING MEMBERS

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is his company’s biggest contribution to the association.“dnata is a strong supporter of the NAFL and over

the years has contributed greatly to the knowledge sharing for which the organization is renowned and respected,” he said.

Ennis added: “We bring to the group considerable expertise of the industry and in return welcome recommendations and insight from fellow NAFL members on their own experiences.”

There are also other benefits of NAFL membership for dnata and those availing of the company’s services.

“NAFL members have registered to work on our Web Portal - Calogi and this does bring a range of benefits. Working with us online enables us to help companies cut costs and take advantage of a range of incentives on our services which we offer to all our members,” Ennis explained.

Both companies are one in their support for the NAFL.

Ennis said dnata believes “there is no other way to celebrate the NAFL’s anniversary than to continue our long-standing support and pledge our continued commitment going forward.”

This sentiment is mirrored by Hartwig’s answer to the question: How is your company celebrating the NAFL’s 20th year.

Dubai Express (L.L.C.) (Freightworks Branch) has placed a full-page advertisement in NAFL News.

Looking forward, at the future of the association and the industry in the United Arab Emirates, dnata “wholeheartedly supports the initiative and believes it is very much in the right direction as the NAFL is perceived to be purely Dubai based when we are actually designated by FIATA to be UAE-wide chapter.”

This was Ennis’ reaction when asked about his opinion about the NAFL’s thrust this year regarding extending membership to supply chain companies in other Emirates.

Hartwig had the same position, saying Dubai Express “welcomes the idea of expansion of the freight forwarders fraternity in the UAE.”

As for the question about the NAFL’s plans to strengthen the NAFL Training Institute, Ennis pointed out the need to make training a criterion for granting or renewing licenses.

“From a training perspective we do welcome the NAFL strengthening of its Training Institute. In my view, the quality of staff in the industry in this region could very much benefit here,” Ennis said.

“I would go as far as to say that we feel regulators should insist that one of the criteria when granting or renewing current licenses is that companies should have to demonstrate they have adequately trained staff and have undergone some mandatory training such as the courses which the NAFL offers,” he added. b

ROUNDUP

The Los Angeles congress will line up an unprece-dented number of high-level speakers. Dr. Jona-than Brewer, UN Panel of Experts on Iran, will explain the mechanism of sanctions in transport services during the MTI Forum.The ABSM will host Nicolette van der Jagt, Direc-tor General of CLECAT, who will speak about Trucking Security in Europe, and Jason Beardall, Executive Vice President, England Logistics Inc., who will deal with Trucking Security in the US.The ABDG meeting will host Dr. Katherine Roon-ey, Chief, Dangerous Goods Section, ICAO, and Cynthia Hilton, VP Government Affairs, Institute of Makers of Explosives, who will deliver speeches in their respective domains.The CAI meeting will hear the keynote speech delivered by Zhu Gaozhang, Director Compliance and Facilitation at WCO, with great anticipation, about the WCO high level agenda in facilitation and compliance. CAI will also host Brenda Brock-man Smith, Executive Director, Office of Inter-national Trade, U.S. Customs and Border Protec-tion (CBP), who will be discussing United States Customs and Border Protection Trade Policy Initiatives. b

Notable Speakers at 2012FIATA World Congress

The USD140-million runway expansion project of the Sharjah International Airport is now underway.

The project, which is expected to be complete in 2013, aims to replace the existing runway of the Sharjah International Airport which will later be used as a taxi area and as a backup runway when the new one undergoes maintenance.

Upon completion of this monumental project, which is being carried out by the Sharjah Department of Civil Aviation, the airport will launch another expansion project--that of creating three new gate lounges with new air bridges and increased access through the duty free area, transfer counters and cafeterias.

Sharjah International Airport is widely considered as the Middle East’s leading air transportation gateway and cargo hub. b

Sharjah Int’l Airport Expansion

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