March 17, 2025 –The FIATA 2025 Headquarters Meeting has officially opened, bringing together key stakeholders from across the global freight forwarding and logistics industry to address the pressing challenges and opportunities shaping the sector. Held at FIATA’s headquarters in Geneva, the event serves as a platform for knowledge sharing, collaboration and strategic dialogue on the future of global logistics.
The event opened with an opening session featuring a keynote address by FIATA President Turgut Erkeskin, a presentation by Tobias Wölfel, Senior Travel, Transport and Logistics Expert at McKinsey & Company, and a discussion between FIATA Director General Dr. Stefan Graber and former Vice President of Paraguay Mr. Luis Alberto Castiglioni.
FIATA Vision and Priorities
During his address, FIATA President Turgut Erkeskin stressed the strategic importance of FIATA’s Geneva headquarters, highlighting its access to key international organizations and decision-makers. He outlined FIATA’s key priorities, including strengthening multimodal transport networks, enhancing trade facilitation and promoting the digital transformation of logistics. The President also reflected on the relevance of the headquarters meeting, noting that key discussions centered around “the need for a unified approach to address the challenges of global logistics.”
FIATA Director General Stefan Graber addressed the organization’s recent push towards regionalization. He detailed FIATA’s growing focus on empowering regional structures, ensuring that global logistics solutions meet local needs, while maintaining a harmonized approach. “Our goal is to create a more resilient and adaptable logistics network that can respond to the unique challenges of each region, save“…by creating global coherence,” said Graber.
McKinsey & Company Articles
In his presentation, Mr. Tobias Wölfel shared key findings from McKinsey’s latest logistics research, highlighting the growing importance of digitalization and automation to improve efficiency across the entire supply chain. He emphasized that market uncertainty is likely to remain, which could not be more true given the ongoing geopolitical disruptions around the Suez Canal. Wölfel also emphasized the critical role of sustainability in shaping future logistics strategies, noting that companies must embrace green initiatives to remain competitive in an evolving regulatory landscape.
Views from Paraguay
Former Vice President of Paraguay, Luis Alberto Castiglioni, spoke about the evolution of trade in Latin America, highlighting the growing role of the Bio-Oceanic Corridor in facilitating connectivity between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He highlighted the strategic importance of Paraguay’s central role in this initiative, highlighting its potential to strengthen economic integration across the continent. Mr. Castiglioni said: “The Bio-Oceanic Corridor is a transformative project that will reduce trade times by almost three weeks by creating a link to the Panama Canal in the south through Paraguay. This initiative will save time and money, promote investment and improve the value chain in the region. I look forward to FIATA’s involvement in this project, to benefit from its leading expertise in logistics and to connect FIATA with the authorities in my country.” Ambassador
Global Outlook
Hoyse Anderson Temu, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations Office at Geneva, warmly invited the audience to attend the upcoming FIATA-Africa and Middle East (RAME) Field Meeting in Zanzibar. Her speech highlighted the importance of fostering regional cooperation to ensure sustainable growth and resilience of global supply chains, while supporting the growing blue economy.
The FIATA Director General reaffirmed the organization’s core values of inclusiveness, collaboration, innovation, responsibility and excellence, which were highlighted by the presence of Castiglione and Hoyse Temu, representing two regions with expanding logistics sectors.
As the 2025 FIATA Headquarters meeting continues, participants will engage in high-level discussions and strategic sessions aimed at strengthening the industry’s resilience, efficiency, adaptability in an evolving global landscape, and empowering its members.