South Africa’s Basil Pietersen has been elected President of the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (Fiata). Pietersen, who also chairs the South African Association of Freight Forwarders, takes on the new role having been both the chairman of Fiata’s Region Africa and Middle East (Rami) and a senior vice president of the organisation. He told FTW shortly after being elected at the general meeting that took place at the annual Fiata World Congress in Cape Town, that it was not only a great honour from a personal perspective to be elected by his peers, it was also recognition for freight forwarders in South Africa and Africa. This is the first time that an African will lead the international organisation, which represents 40 000 forwarding and logistics companies in 150 countries. “This gives us the recognition that we have both the skill and the professionalism in the country – and continent – to lead this industry,” he said. “Considering the role of Fiata in the global forwarding industry, this decision is a vote of confidence not just in me, but in our local forwarding industry.” Pietersen said one of his primary goals over the next two years would be to grow African membership in Fiata. Currently 23 countries are members of the organsiation. He would also be critically involved in the change management of the organisation, he said. Fiata is in the process of resetting itself to ensure its future sustainability. This includes relocating the headquarters to Geneva, merging several of its departments, and significantly increasing its advocacy role – necessary moves in a changing world. “We need to engage more with our members, to encourage them to embrace not just the challenges that we face but also the changes required to remain sustainable.
