If you’re a member of our maritime or transportation community, you know it’s that time of the year – time to make plans to attend two of 2015’s premiere conferences on foreign trade and logistics. And you don’t even have to leave the state.
The 47th annual Georgia Foreign Trade Conference is right around the corner. Set for Feb. 2-3 at The Cloister on Sea Island, the conference attracts hundreds of industry leaders and decision-makers, from senior-level shippers to maritime executives. They represent ocean carriers, ports, terminal operators, government agencies, financial institutions, shippers, stevedores, railroads, truckers, forwarders, brokers, 3PLs, 4PLs, international port management companies, port consultants, suppliers, site selectors and others critical to the movement of international freight.
Highlights of the upcoming conference include keynotes by Jorge Quijano, CEO of the Panama Canal Authority, and Curtis Foltz, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority.
A Monday morning panel session on ocean carriers will feature Marc Bourdon, president of CMA CGM America; Michael White, president of Maersk Line North America; and Allen Clifford, executive vice president of Mediterranean Shipping Co.
A second-day roundtable will focus on Georgia Ports Authority success stories featuring logistics leaders from such companies as Dorel Industries, Academy Sports + Outdoors and JLA Home.
Over the course of the conference, more than 400 attendees from across North America will learn about the latest issues
affecting shippers, carriers, ports, terminals and the maritime community into the next century, as well as the changing legislation and new technologies. For more information on the conference, go to http://www.gaforeigntrade.com.
Logistics success story
With the country’s fourth-largest deepwater port, the world’s busiest airport, a well-designed highway and rail system, Georgia is a major player in logistics, and that’s one of the main reasons companies from around the globe are looking to relocate to our state.
It’s something transportation expert Page Siplon recognized early on and one of the main reasons his Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics convened the first Georgia Logistics Summit in Atlanta nearly seven years ago.
Perhaps the best indication of the importance of logistics to business — both global and domestic — is the exponential growth of the annual summit.
“We started out in 2009 with a luncheon attended by 450 people, which was a lot more than we had anticipated,” Siplon said.
The next year, attendance nearly doubled, drawing 800 people to the Cobb Galleria. In 2011, Siplon expanded the summit to an all-day event, bringing in 1,200 attendees from around the Southeast.
The event outgrew the Galleria and moved to the Georgia World Congress Center in 2012, where it drew 1,600 participants from 28 states and seven countries, including Turkey, Germany, Peru and Israel.
Last year’s registration topped out at just over 2,300 — with 35 states and 11 foreign countries participating.
Siplon is anticipating at least that many for 2015.
“Every year, we expect to hit our ceiling, and every year the summit attendance grows,” he said.
The theme for this year’s summit, set for March 31 and April 1, will be fast-growing markets and how logistics affect them.
“We’ll be talking about a lot of different things, but our primary focus will be on intermodal, e-commerce and perishables — all topics important to Georgia and beyond,” he said.
An illustration of that may be that registration has started fast, and sponsorships sold out earlier than ever before.
For more information on the summit, go to http://www.georgialogistics.com
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Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News. She can be reached at 912-652-0324 or at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.
Note: The ships schedule will return next week.