Transport Forum comes of age as top-level speakers line up for October event

The Transport Forum has scored a major coup in bringing the industry’s biggest role-players together on one stage, according to its organiser and custodian, Harry van Huyssteen. “In honour of Transport Month, the Forum will be holding a full-day event at the University of Johannesburg on October 4 specifically focusing on transport and logistics infrastructure,” he said. “It is history in the making as it will be the first time that most of the stakeholders in the transport and logistics industry will be on the same stage on the same day talking on one topic allowing for direct interaction with stakeholders.” He said the event would be hosted by the University of Johannesburg’s department of transport and supply chain management headed by Prof Jackie Walters. Speakers who will take the stage include Minister of Public Enterprise, Malusi Gigaba, Bongani Maseko, managing director of the Airports Company of South Africa, Lanfranc Situma, deputy director general of NATMAP 50 and Brian Molefe, group chief executive of Transnet. “Also from Transnet are Tau Morwe, chief executive of Transnet National Ports Authority, and Charl Moller, chief executive of Transnet pipelines,” said Van Huyssteen. “Nazir Alli, CEO of Sanral, Dylan Raubenheimer of IQ Oil Filtration, and Cobus Rossouw, chief integration officer of Imperial, are the other speakers.” According to Van Huyssteen, the Transport Forum has grown tremendously in the past seven years since it was first established by then stateowned arivia.kom. “Our main goal when we started it was to enhance the transport process in the country,” said Van Huyssteen. “It has grown much bigger than I think anyone anticipated. Today it has become the most important asset in the industry for content provision and networking.” In the first years of the forum only a handful of delegates would arrive to talk about transport. But it has through the years gone from strength to strength – not only growing the number of attendees, but also allowing a range of other sponsors to come on board with the platinum sponsor, T-Systems SA, which acquired arivia.kom in 2009. “It has grown to such an extent that it is fully booked every month. We also now have a presence across the country, with the Forum being held all over South Africa,” said Van Huyssteen. “We also have various sponsors on board who play a massive role in marketing the event and growing its stature. Our goal remains to connect role-players within the transport industry, to talk in-depth about issues in the transport and logistics industry, while at the same time providing a platform for thought leadership by organisations and individuals who are active in the industry.” As always, attendance is free but booking is essentail. To book for the October 4 event, go to www.transportsig.com CAPTION Harry van Huyssteen … ‘an important asset in the industry for content provision and networking.’