KOLKATA: The Calcutta Freight Brokers Association (CFBA) recently held its 84th Annual General Meeting at Royal Calcutta Turf Club, Kolkata on August 26, 2022.
The Association elected the new committee for 2022-23. Shri Bharat Jain was elected as new Chairman and Shri Ajay Chhajer as
Vice Chairman, whereas other Managing Committee Members are Shri J S Chopra, Shri Rajiv Agarwalla, Shri Manoj Vyas, Shri Vivek Choudhary, Shri Pawan Farmania for the term 2022-2023.
Shri Bharat Jain, new Chairman of CFBA, expressed his gratitude for the co-operation and assured the members about Association's support in the turbulent times. While expressing his views to Daily Shipping Times, Shri Jain said, “The pandemic affected every aspect of life and shipping was no exception. The unprecedented situation threw many challenges and a few opportunities as well. We appreciate that most Lines tried to facilitate the trade and Indian exporters and importers were served well given the difficult conditions. Carriers were flexible in bending the rules and their people worked much beyond working hours to assist the customers. The increased rate levels we have seen over the past years are a function of demand outstripping supply and landside congestion in most destinations, exacerbated by pandemic-related disruptions.”
“Markets are competitive and the high ocean freight rates were determined by unprecedented consumer demand that overwhelmed the supply of vessel capacity. Congestion further constrained available capacity,” Shri Jain said.
Shri Vivek Choudhary, immediate Past Chairman of the Calcutta Freight Brokers Assn., in his speech, welcomed
Chief Guest, Mr. Indrajit Das Gupta, President - India & ISC- ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (India) Pvt Ltd., and other distinguished guests including Mr. Indrajit Sengupta, MSC Agency, Mr. Ashok Jankiraman, President of ASIC and Chairman of FEDSAI. He also thanked Shri Keyur Tharani, Shri Anup Deosthalee, the Members of the Bombay Overseas Freight Brokers Association (BOFBA) and other dignitaries from various shipping companies across India.
While giving a brief overview of the International Container trade and the shipping industry, the Chairman said, “With the COVID 19 pandemic, the world saw the advent of a new era: with digitalisation at its peak, technology became an important pivot to all facets of human interaction, including trade. Needless to say, the shipping industry wasn't an exception. Our industry has seen a rapid digitalisation of transactions and communication which shows our advancement but also possess new threat to us and new challenges to face. We can together tackle it with strong collaboration and sharing information more than before.”
He also said, “We are thankful to Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port for implementing lot of trade friendly measures especially during peak of covid period.”
Shri Choudhary while expressing his views to Daily Shipping Times said, “The focus of the Association continued towards building up healthier partnerships with the shipping companies in order to jointly address issues of mutual interest. Recognising both the strengths of the industry along with the potential setback is a necessary step for freight brokers who want to be successful in their business in the future.”
Praising Calcutta freight brokers' contribution towards logistics growth of East India, Chief Guest of the event, Mr. Indrajit Das Gupta spellbounded the audience with his in-depth analysis on shipping, logistics sector in digital slides presentation. Focussing the Indian economic condition in comparison with global economy and the present scenario post Ukraine war, economic turbulence in US and Chinese economy in pandemic situation, he highlighted all spheres that created a great concern for global trade. He also explored pros and cons for Shipping Lines, Customer-centric management, which actually affected the peripheral industry and users as well. The role of freight brokers, freight forwarders, logistics services provider, becoming tougher day by day, he expressed. Though he hoped for better future in the nearby times. He also focussed on Kolkata Port's contribution towards Indian economy as well as its various projects towards the betterment of trade.
The event ended with vote of thanks by Shri Ajay Chhajer, Vice Chairman, CFBA followed by dinner and cocktails.
