Emirati women to lead National Association of Freight & Logistics
His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation, CEO and Chairman of the Emirates Group and Chairman of Dubai World, center, with National Association of Freight and Logistics President Nadia Abdul Azziz, 2nd right, and other officials of the association, pose for a photo after a fruitful meeting discussing issues about the industry.
DUBAI: For the first time in the history of the UAE, an Emirati and a woman at that, was chosen to lead the National Asso-ciation of Freight and Logistics (NAFL), a group representing the largest industry in the country after oil and tourism.
Nadia Abdul Aziz, managing director and partner at the Union National Air, Land and Sea Shipping Company (UNASCO), who previously served as NAFL’s secretary general, said the group currently has 380 members but is aiming to gather thousands of other companies in the freight and logistics sector, as well as allied industries like aviation, technology, air cargo, among others, to join them.
Speaking at the two-day Air Cargo Handling Conference held in Dubai on September 20-22, Abdul Aziz said more growth will take place in the transportation and logistics sector as the country aims to be the leader in transporting goods and services globally.
“This is where the growth is taking place,” said Abdul Aziz who has been in the forefront of the industry for many years. “We will work with the government and the industry to further enhance our standards and give our traders the best possible opp-ortunities.”
Founded 24 years ago, NAFL continues to stir UAE-based freight and logistics companies to greater heights.
As NAFL’s new president, Abdul Aziz assured the members of her commitment and dedication to bring them innovation, ease in doing business, globally recognized e-learning courses to update their knowledge as well as free legal services.
FIATA World Congress in Dubai
Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Ahmed Saeed Al Maktoum, the president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, chairman of the Emirates, among other notable positions in both the private and public sectors, Abdul Aziz seeks to bring the FIATA World Congress in Dubai in 2020.
FIATA or the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Association has long been a close ally of the UAE.
Bringing its upcoming major congress in Dubai will catapult the UAE as a major global hub in the freight and logistics industry.
Abdul Aziz described the group’s meeting with Sheikh Ahmed as “productive” and expressed hope for his continued support for their many upcoming projects.
“The FIATA World Congress is one of the important agendas. We recently represented UAE in Africa-Addis Ababa and will represent the UAE logistics industry in Ireland at the FIATA Global World Congress too,” she said.
“We will always focus on promoting the UAE’s excellent infrastructure, airports, airlines, ports and logistic free zones to investors when we travel for global conferences,” she added.
Apart from NAFL, Abdul Aziz also volunteers her time to numerous other cause-oriented organizations, most notably WILATME or the Women in Logistics and Transport Middle East Region, which she chairs and the Al Noor Training Center for Persons with Disabilities where she sits as a member of the Board of Governors.
About NAFL
The National Association of Freight and Logistics (NAFL) was founded in February of 1992 or more than 24 years ago in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
It was the Gulf’s first national freight forwarders associa-tion primarily formed to bring together in one body all the major players in the UAE freight forwarding, logistics and shipping industries.
Broadly, its main goal is to ensure the UAE’s leading position and Dubai’s pre-eminence in the inter-national freight and trans-portation fields.
NAFL is a member of FIATA, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, based in Zurich, Switzerland.
To learn more about the group, visit www.nafl.ae or call +971-4-343-1112.
