Co-operation between logistics chain stakeholders is more crucial than ever, particularly with ships increasing in size and making demands of public infrastructure that cannot be constructed overnight, Federation of European Private Port Companies and Terminals (FEPORT) secretary general Lamia Kerdjoudj Belkaid has said.
During a presentation at TOC Europe, Ms Kerdjoudj Belkaid said: “We have to prepare for … the increase in size; we have to make more equipment — I heard that productivity can be improved for sure. I mean customer is king — if the customers are saying that we need to improve, we’ll definitely do it.
“Just one plea to the customers: please talk whenever you decide to order bigger ships. I think it’s important that we know it on the terminal side because otherwise, it’s very difficult to adapt.”
There also needs to be a level playing field in terms of regulatory framework applicable to the different logistics chain areas, she added.
Ms Kerdjoudj Belkaid also said that data-sharing will play an important role with regards to trade facilitation and efficiency within logistics chains, and that regulatory frameworks need to ensure that systems for data-sharing stay open to guaranteeing a level playing field between logistics chain actors.
“We know that the directorate of competition at European level [is] working on data and I think we are happy that they have started to work on it, because we definitely need to have rules on data-sharing,” she said.
