SLFFA sponsors university students for logistics conference

Driving a national agenda via EDB

The Sri Lanka Logistics and Freight Forwarders Association (SLFFA) together with its commercial arm SLFFA Cargo Services Ltd. came forward to sponsor 12 top ranking university students who are pursuing higher studies in logistics, to attend the Colombo International Logistics Conference held in Colombo recently. The students sponsored are from the logistics faculties of universities such as the Kotalawala Defence University, Moratuwa University, the Ocean University and National School of Business Management (NSBM). The event which was well-attended with several key speakers from overseas was indeed very beneficial for the students who aspire to become future leaders and entrepreneurs in the logistics industry. SLFFA has been continuously promoting education in the Logistics and the Freight Forwarding industry and these initiatives gave birth to the formation the Academy of International Trade and Transport (AITT) in 2006. AITT is the training arm of SLFFA. It is a body endorsed by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) and an Accredited Training School (ATS) of International Air Transport Association (IATA). It is also a training institute approved by the Directorate of Merchant Shipping, Ministry of Ports and Aviation. AITT is a non-profit making academy as its main objective is to bring in professional knowledge through its training courses which are based on international curriculum supported by FIATA and UNESCAP, which will contribute to uplift the industry standards to international level in Sri Lanka and giving more opportunity to young people for developing a Logistics/Supply Chain Management career, in one of the most rapidly developing global industries, where supply chain solutions brings in a competitive edge in today’s global manufacturing and distribution sector.Today, globalisation has been the most prominent factor driving the increase in the number of companies in the global market place. This necessitates a broader perspective than when operating as an international company, which may include, amongst others, attributes such global branding, global sourcing, global production, centralisation of inventories and centralisation of information. All of these aspects serve to emphasise the added difficulty of operating effectively in a global environment.  Logistics and supply chain networks have become far more complicated, and meeting the need to plan and manage logistics as a complete and integrated system has become far more difficult. Because of this, the best solution for a global company is very often to outsource its logistics operations. Therefore, training and developing the knowledge and skills in our human resources, by adding another career opportunity to the job market, in the logistics and supply chain management field is a need of the hour and should receive national level priority from Government and Merchant sectors of the economy. The Logistics and International Trade Programs conducted by AITT are designed to suit beginners as well as professionals in the industry who want to enhance their knowledge and advance in their careers.