January 24, 2008, jctrans.net---At 9 am local time in Mumbai, the first conference of delegates was held at the World Trade Center. Over 200 people from different locations around the world took part.
Mr. R.K. Patra, editor in chief of STAT Trade Times, addressed the audience first. As the representative of the committee responsible for organizing Air Cargo India 2008, Mr. Patra welcomed the attendees and he said he believed that the exhibition would improve the cooperation among companies the world over in the air cargo industry. According to the local customs of India, there was an inauguration of the conference by lighting the lamp. After that, other addresses were made by Dr. S. S. Sidhu, His Excellency the Governor of Manipur and former secretary of ICAO, Mr. Michael Proffitt, CEO of Dubai Logistics City, Dr. Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice President of Sales of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and Mr. Ram C. Menen, Divisional Senior Vice President of Cargo Emirates Airline. Dr. S.S. Sidhu said that air cargo played an important role in the GDP of India. He referred several time in the speech to the air cargo cooperation between India and China, and stated his belief that the opportunities for business between these two countries would rise over the next 5 years. Mr. Michael Proffitt talked about the opportunities and challenges facing the global air cargo industry regarding security, customs clearance, fuel price, connection between sea ports and air port, and price and profitability. Throughout the whole morning, all the representatives expressed their opinions about the air cargo industry.
For the rest of the day, there was scheduled to be four business sessions, where representatives were free to have face-to-face discussions. In the air cargo industry, which is full of opportunities and challenges, companies from different locations should communicate more frequently, in order to improve their cooperation
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