Mr. William Yang, of IIFA Full Trading Member Hawthorn Logistics, as the sole voluntary entrant representing Ireland in the Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year 2010 competition, last month submitted his completed entry.

 

William's Thesis, which was set by the competition organizers "Movement of Project Cargo from FOB Shanghai, CN to Dublin, IE" will be judged with entries from other participating European National Associations for the European Region sector of the Award. The three other FIATA regions are "Americas," "Africa and Middle East" and "Asia Pacific."

Regional winners will be notified of the success of their thesis in the first week of July, and the successful candidates will be presented with their award at the 2010 FIATA World Congress in Bangkok, Thailand 4th - 8th October 2010.
 
William (Yang Lei) joined Hawthorn Logistics Solutions Ltd in 2008. He is responsible for Business Development between Ireland and Asia region, and China in particular.
 
He is also largely involved in day to day operations and liaisons between Ireland and China. William, originally from Beijing, China, was a University student studying International Trade before he moved to Ireland in January 2001. He holds a BA in Business Management and MBS in Supply Chain Management. 

We wish William the very best in this competition and we hope to see him succeed to the FIATA World Congress later this year.

 

After the sharpest decline in more than 70 years, world trade is set to rebound in 2010 by growing at 9.5%, according to WTO economists. WTO rules and principles have assisted governments in keeping markets open and they now provide a platform from which trade can grow as the global economy improves. "We see the light at the end of the tunnel and trade promises to be an important part of the recovery. But we must avoid derailing any economic revival through protectionism," said Director-General Pascal Lamy.

 

Exports from developed economies are expected to increase by 7.5% in volume terms over the course of the year while shipments from the rest of the world (including developing economies and the Commonwealth of Independent States) should rise by around 11% as the world emerges from recession.

The 12% drop in the volume of world trade in 2009 was larger than most economists had predicted. This contraction also exceeded the WTOs' earlier forecast of a 10% decline. World trade volumes fell on three other occasions after 1965 (0.2% in 2001, 2% in 1982, and 7% in 1975), but none of these episodes approached the magnitude of last years economic slide (Chart 1). Trade in current US dollar terms dropped even further than trade in volume terms (23%), thanks in large part to falling prices of oil and other primary commodities.

Economists have suggested a number of reasons why trade declined so steeply, including the imposition of some protectionist measures. But the consensus that has emerged centres on a sharp contraction in global demand as the primary cause. This was magnified by the product composition of the fall in demand, by the presence of global supply chains, and by the fact that the decline in trade was synchronized across countries and regions(1).

 

The weakness in private sector demand was linked to the global recession triggered by the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States. What began in the US financial sector soon spread to the real economy, with global repercussions. Limited availability of trade finance also played a role.

 

Source: WTO Secretariat.
Link - http://www.wto.org

Tom Freeney Retires

 

After many years of working in the freight forwarding industry Mr. Tom Freeney (64) has taken early retirement from Emerald Freight Express Ltd.

Tom, in common with many others in the forwarding business in this country, started his career with Palgrave Murphy in Dublin. This was an 'institution' in the shipping business in its day and was a major Ship/Liner Agent.

The firm closed down in 1970 and Tom then worked for a period of 10 years with the late Pakenham Pim in AFI (Air Freight International Ltd) at Dublin Airport until forming with Owen O'Brien Emerald Freight in 1981.

We wish Tom a long, happy and healthy retirement.

 

The Small Firms Association (SFA) has welcomed the establishment of the Credit Review Office, which will allow small businesses to appeal refusals for bank finance from the NAMA covered financial institutions, to this independent body.

 

The SFA has been extensively consulted on the establishment of the new body, and believes that it will operate efficiently, with minimum bureaucracy for the small business client, at a reasonable cost, and in an expeditious timeframe.
 
SFA Director, Patricia Callan anticipates that many more appeals will get through the internal appeals process of the financial institutions concerned, as they are aware that this further independent appeals process will be scrutinising their decision-making process and publishing reports on performance.
 
However, she said that for the process to have a real impact on overall small business lending rates, it is important that the banks who are outside the NAMA process, who make up a sizeable portion of the small business finance market, also voluntarily opt in, so that appeals against their decisions can also be heard by this independent body.

 

The SFAs latest quarterly business sentiment survey shows 22% of respondents reporting a decrease in working capital availability from the banks over the past three months, and 14% reporting an increase in the cost.

 

"When a small business fails, it is not because it runs out of customers, ideas or products. It simply runs out of money. With one in four small businesses in Ireland not getting enough credit, we have a very serious problem, with potentially 62,500 small business closures and 200,000 jobs lost as a result," Callan commented.