Interview with EMRE ELDENER
| Mr. Emre Eldener undertook the Presidency of UTIKAD as of November 2016. He lectures on project cargo at FIATA Diploma in Freight Forwarding Program of UTIKAD. Mr. Eldener joined KITA Logistics in 1998. KITA has ten offices in 4 countries and provides logistics services. Mr. Eldener holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Middle East Technical University and an MBA in International Business from Baldwin Wallace University. Mr. Eldener is a Disciplinary Board Member of the Chamber of Shipping. He is also the Logistics Committee Vice President and a Supervisory Board Member of the Services Exporters’ Association within the Turkish Exporters Assembly. |
| 1. What do you consider to be the main disrupters for Freight Forwarding development at the moment? The main disrupters almost always come from the outside of a specific industry, and I expect the same for logistics. The Airbnb’s of global warehousing, the Ubers of cargo transport or the Amazons of logistics services sales will be the main disruptors shortly. We have started seeing the effects already. With the digitization of all processes and the result of more efficient contact fewer customs operations, we will see the emergence of driverless trucks moving around probably within the next five years. Therefore we expect major changes in the logistics industry very soon. 2. Tell us about key areas in Logistics/Supply chain where Freight Forwarding can improve the most and why? Freight forwarding needs to use more artificial intelligence to prevent human errors and increase productivity. Freight forwarding also needs to be integrated into a large community on cloud involving Customs, banks and all related parties in a secure environment. That will improve all services. In fact, what is also missing is global real-time costs for all transport modes. That is not readily available. An online platform covering real-time quotations and tracks covering the whole globe will be very successful. 3. What is your opinion about positioning WOF EXPO in the Central and Eastern Europe region? Central and Eastern Europe is a region where we see Turkey as part of. That is a region where a serious portion of production within the EU is made. Therefore, we believe the positioning is much better than being in any other country in Western Europe. Turkey may also be an attractive place in the future (of course after Covid) as many nations do not require visas to come to Istanbul, and there is a good infrastructure for large shows. 4. What will be the impact of Covid19 for further business development within your association? Our association Utikad has created a real-time Covid 19 news center covering all countries from a logistics perspective. And we received praises from our members for the up to date information we posted. This news center has become the reference point to follow Covid related logistics news for the whole world for our members and the sector. Digitization is on our agenda, and we are taking initiatives to bring all related parties into a single platform digital world for better business practices. |
 | UTIKAD (Association of International Forwarding and Logistics Service Providers), established in 1986, represents the road, air, sea, rail, combined transport and logistics service providers companies in Turkey, and at the international arena as the most important and active association in Turkish Logistics Industry. UTIKAD is the national representative of Turkey in FIATA (International Federation of Freight Forwarders Association), which is the largest non-governmental organization in the field of transportation and logistics in the world. Separately, UTİKAD is an associate member of the European Association For Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services (CLECAT) and a founder member of the ECO Logistics Providers Associations Federation (ECOLPAF).
utikad.org.tr |