CSS Bahrain took part in the Project Logistics Alliance Meeting, which was held at the Hilton Tallinn Park in Tallinn, Estonia, from the 9th to the 12th of October, 2022. At the 5th Annual Meeting of the Project Logistics Alliance, Amal Hareendran represented CSS at this prestigious event.
This year’s Project Logistics Alliance (PLA) conference had over 70 delegates from 50 companies. The platform brings together PLA network members from various countries under one roof and provides immense networking opportunities. The discussions touched upon the various projects handled by the PLA network members during the past year and the future project opportunities across the worldwide network.
Project Logistics Alliance
The Project Logistics Alliance (PLA) was founded in 2016 by industry experts around the globe to address the special demands of project freight forwarding for small and mid-sized enterprises. An independent network designed to form a global alliance of project cargo experts, the Project Logistics Alliance, connects the best people, agents, and companies in the industry in one network. PLA works with a mission to build on the expertise possessed jointly by its members, thereby focusing on maintaining high-quality service and furthering the unique knowledge required to service the project forwarding industry appropriately.
By creating a platform on which solely industry experts can communicate and collaborate, PLA aims to be the pinnacle towards which the industry aspires. Other attempts to form networks like this have encountered issues with knowledge and expertise diluting due to a lack of entry requirements. Many networks are pay-to-join with uncapped numbers on membership which may result in exceedingly high memberships of unproven quality.
The Project Logistics Alliance aims to mitigate this by enforcing strict entry barriers and qualification requirements to join. Membership applications are subject to a rigorous application process. The PLA requires applicants to demonstrate a track record of projects and prove that they are financially sound. By enforcing strict application requirements, the Project Logistics Alliance ensures its community consists of a global network of approved and qualified members. PLA membership is limited to two members per country; however, larger markets are allowed more representation to ensure sufficient coverage. The members can offer a wide range of project-logistical services.
Hareedran had a tightly packed schedule with meetings with numerous PLA network members, inlcuding Aditi Ailavajhala from Germany, Cristina Molina (AC Project & Forwarding, SL from Spain, Roberto Santarossa from FCL Argentina, George Kwakwa-Sarpong from OMA Logistics Ghana, Rok Strukelj from Centralog Croatia and Slovenia. On the second day, he had discussions with other agents, including Margus Rool from Transocean Eesti Oü, Estonia, Mustafa Özcan from Logistics Plus, Turkey, and others like Abhijeet Vikram Singh of Pt Total Movements International, Indonesia. On the last day, several strategic meetings were lined up with agents like Brett Malcolm from CEA Projects Co. Ltd, Paolo Franco from Partnerships Manager United States, Coadou Philippe of Philco International, France, and several other agents.
A perfect networking platform to build synergies
The guests kicked off the event with a cocktail reception. The next day was a long one with 1 : 1 meetings. CSS met with other PLA members across various regions during this excellently organized conference. The three days were choc-a-block with meetings with agents from across the world. CSS established relationships with PLA members of other regions to engage in project opportunities in the Middle East region and beyond