Port of Gdansk at the 2014 FREIGHT Forum

10.04.2014

It was the second time when the annual FREIGHT Forum Conference had been held at the Amber Expo Exhibition and Convention Centre owned by Gdansk International Fair SA. As in the previous year, the guest of honour at the Conference was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Janusz Piechocinski. An opening ceremony of the Forum attracted also such individuals as Mr Zbigniew Klepacki, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development, Mr Pawel Adamowicz, Mayor of the City of Gdansk, and Mr Ryszard Swilski, Deputy Marshal of the Pomerania Region. The agenda of the Conference, however, was targeted mostly at transport practitioners and young people getting ready to work in the Transport, Forwarding and Logistics business, i.e. future carriers, freight forwarders and logistic service providers.

All speakers shared the same opinion about the relationship between Poland's economic development, gross domestic product growth and the construction of an efficient transport network. Businessmen, experts and politicians confirmed that robust economy cannot be built without developing sea transport and Polish ports. It is essential that both the programme of lifting a transport blockade of Polish ports be consistently implemented, and conditions for efficient intermodal transport be created. Active participation of ports in rail, road and sea transport is the essence of their position in international trade.

It is difficult to overestimate the benefits arising from jointly and continuously identifying and removing bottlenecks in the logistic structure. It results in shorter delivery times, lower shipment costs and better quality of transport services. Deputy Prime Minister Piechocinski said, "Poland must take advantage of its central location in Europe and seize this historic opportunity to invest large EU grants in an optimal way."

"Poland's share in over 60 bn freight tonne-kilometres recorded annually in the EU intermodal transport network equals only 3.3%", estimated Minister Zbigniew Klepacki. He added, "This proportion needs to be promptly improved upon, because it is a kind of economic barometer that measures the possibility of increasing the so-called commercial speed and GDP growth. The whole TFL industry notices the key importance of seaports. Improving ports' accessibility by rail and road, and developing state of the art IT and logistic infrastructure is currently Poland's top priority."

Port of Gdansk Authority SA, as a FREIGHT Forum Partner, has vivid interest in making all supply chain participants remember about the benefits of independent access to the Baltic Sea and ocean transport routes. ,i>"We pay close attention to all information regarding the development of intermodal transport and port's accessibility by rail because it is a means of transport that greatly affects the implementation of our strategy", concluded Mr Ryszard Mazur, Development Director, during a panel debate over the advantages and future of intermodal transport and supra-regional importance of the Tricity Railway Junction. He also added, "The Port of Gdansk has and develops its potential focused on serving much more distant rail facilities than the Pomerania Region. We are thinking of transit services, i.e. foreign cargo for which rail transport should be most efficient because of the distance. The anticipated growth in our port's operations in the coming years is going to make communication with rail facilities a bottleneck if we do not ensure prompt implementation of planned investments in rail infrastructure."

Janusz Kasprowicz
PGA SA PR Officer