Jointly organised by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 11th Asian Logistics, Maritime and Aviation Conference (ALMAC) has concluded, successfully running in an online-and-offline hybrid format. Sixty-three industry experts and leaders shared their insights at close to 30 sessions at the two-day conference, attracting more than 11,200 viewers from some 60 countries and regions. They included participants from Hong Kong, Mainland China, newcomers from Mexico, Nigeria, Romania and more, highlighting how the event offered networking opportunities spanning the globe.The conference's hybrid format enabled industry players from around the world to expand their business connections and explore partnership opportunities both virtually and face to face. Six satellite venues were set up in collaboration with different industry organisations to enhance participation. Representatives could join the event at the main venue in Hong Kong or satellite venues in Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Hamburg and more. In addition to running a live broadcast of the conference, some of the satellite venues invited experts to address logistics issues and experiences from a local perspective and enabled participants to enjoy face-to-face exchanges and business matching activities at the same time. Virtual roundtable meetings were also organised, connecting participants from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg with industry players from Hong Kong and Mainland China, helping the industry react to new market trends.
New trade order and evolving intermodal networks in the Asia-Pacific
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised existential questions about globalisation and added weight to the topic of supply chain shortening, including near-shoring and re-shoring. As a consequence, supply chains are now becoming more regional than global - a development that is particularly noticeable in the Asia-Pacific region.
In the first Power Dialogue session, titled "New trade order and evolving intermodal networks in the Asia-Pacific", three industry luminaries - Raymond Fung, Director of Trades, Orient Overseas Container Line; Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific; and Joseph Phi, Group CEO, Li & Fung - discussed how shippers and other industry players are adjusting to the post-pandemic era and how the region's supply chain network will evolve in the coming years.
Mr Fung said businesses have needed to increase dialogue with each and every customer and have also had to cater for certain SMEs they previously wouldn't have dealt with over the past couple of years. As service providers, he said shipping lines must live with what the customer wants and adjust accordingly. "For example, we have been using big-bulk vessels, as long as they are seaworthy, to run short-distance trips for certain customers," he said. With the growth of e-commerce and the use of artificial intelligence by some carriers and customers, he hoped it would be easier to forecast demand, with shipping lines able to come up with different sizes of vessels and different routings to better cater for customers' requirements.
Mr Leung said that a lot of issues, such as port congestion and traffic congestion, were happening even before the pandemic. Infrastructural issues already existed but have been amplified by the pandemic.
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