CEO MeetUp Logistics&Trade coorganized by Caspian Energy Club and Association of Azerbaijan Transport Forwarding Companies

Caspian Energy Club and the Association of Azerbaijan Transport Forwarding Companies have coorganized another CEO MeetUp Logistics&Trade focused on the discussion of logistics and trade issues. This was said by Caspian Energy Club Deputy CEO and CFO, Rasim Mahmudov. 

Over 150 representatives attended CEO MeetUp Logistics&Trade organized in the B2B format. The event was held with the participation of senior officials and representatives of the government agencies, top managers of Caspian Energy Club member companies, executives of public and private companies representing oil and non-oil sectors, management board representatives of logistics companies – members of the Association of Azerbaijan Transport forwarding Companies, entrepreneurs and non-member companies of Caspian Energy Club. Axiom, Corn Processing Company and Envix Print were silver sponsors of the event CEO MeetUp Logistics&Trade. 

Aydin Talibov, Founder and CEO of Veyseloglu Group of Companies, Sona Osmanova, Head of Transporting-AZ, Kamran Habibov, Chairman of the Association of Azerbaijan Transport Forwarding Companies and Head of Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Elmir Poladov, Head of CILT-accredited EDUCA Training and Consulting Center, Samir Rzayev, Head of Grand Logistics Center participated as speakers in the panel discussions of the event. ASE Group Chief Executive Rashad Abasov was the moderator of CEO MeetUp Logistics&Trade. 

During the welcoming speech, Kamran Habibov expressed his gratitude to Caspian Energy Club and the Association of Azerbaijan Transport Forwarding Companies for organizing CEO MeetUp Logistics&Trade. 

“Caspian Energy Club was the first to support us when we joined it 9 years ago. I would like to extend my gratitude to the Club for the support it has provided us throughout our activity. I would like to note a number of major goals we are pursuing: to develop the logistics sector locally, to sign contracts with neighbor, regional and international associations and confederations for accomplishing the tasks we set, to promote Azerbaijan among them, to maintain contact with the government structures, to carry out exchange of ideas and of course to train human resources. 

Then, the reports were made on topics concerning trade chain building strategies, domestic logistics, 3pl logistics, education in the field of logistics and warehouse management.  

Speaking about support given to strategic sectors through special credits, Aydin Talibov stressed the big role that logistics is playing in the country’s development. According to him, there is a still long way to go and the development of this sector requires broad financial support.   

“The logistics sector is of great importance for the country’s economy. There are some challenges in this sector, which I would like to inform you about. Noteworthy among them are the old age of most of the transport vehicles, lack of the transparent tariff system, problems in the freight tracking system, etc. Stimulating and investment programs have to be introduced, new warehouses need to be built address the existing problems”, Sona Osmanova said. 

“There are three major problems seen in the field of warehousing. Lack of modern warehouses, staff gaps and technological integration can be brought as examples. Construction of modern warehouses is very expensive and impacts the work. Considering Azerbaijan’s location at the intersection of international corridors, the availability of modern warehouses is of great importance”, Samir Rzayev said. 

Sona Osmanova spoke about problems existing in domestic vehicular transportation. She emphasized the old age of the majority of vehicles operating in the field of transportation, lack of tracking and related digital solutions, gray market, and insufficient infrastructure. The way out of the situation she sees in introduction of public incentive programs, apply of modern technologies, ensuring of transparency in payments, and construction of logistics centers in regions. 

Speaking about global processes running in the logistics business, integrated logistics solutions, Kamran Habibov recommended to apply of those solutions in Azerbaijan and suggested that freight owners shall move from spot business to a more long-term business model. Instead of performing a split delivery, it is better to carry out a third-party logistics. Such approach will make it possible to take into account all risks of the logistics chain, save costs and provide extras support for the development of business. 

“We all have heard about the “qualified staff can handle everything” motto which sounds pretty true. There were no specialized training programs in our country’s higher education institutes when we started the logistics business, so, we had to learn and master this work on basis of experience. It used to cause complications. However, it is possible to gain that knowledge”, Elmir Poladov said. 

Expectations in the field of logistics, problems and prospects in the field of transport, influence of logistics on profitability, tax avoidance and other topics were broadly covered at the Q&A session.

The event continued with the presentation of gratitude certificates to all speakers and sponsors of the event, as well as membership certificates to all new member companies of Caspian Energy Club. The discount coupons for the Freight Management module training were played among the participants by Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. 

The event CEO MeetUp Logistics&Trade ended up with the networking session held for the communication of companies’ representatives.                  

Established in June 2002, Caspian Energy Club brings together over 5,000 companies and organizations across 50 countries. As an active participant of the business-to-government dialogue, the major objective of Caspian Energy Club is to improve investment and business climate in Azerbaijan and in other countries where the Club operates, as well as to encourage and actively engage in B2G, B2B and B2C dialogues.  

Headquartered in Baku, Caspian Energy Club is an international business networking platform regularly conducting different events.

 Caspian Energy Club has representative offices operating in Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Poland, Türkiye, UAE, Uzbekistan as well as authorized representatives around the globe. 

Caspian Energy Club International was established in 2023 with the aim to manage international projects of Caspian Energy Club. Within 5 years Caspian Energy Club International plans to open offices in 100 countries across the world. One of the major functions of Caspian Energy Club International is to manage the Club’s activity in countries where no representatives are present, and work out a general strategy for all foreign offices.   

The Association of Azerbaijan Transport Forwarding Companies was established in 2021. Today, 32 companies specialized in different areas of the logistics business of our country are the members of the association.