Acclaimed Silk Road author Professor Richard Griffiths is among the latest confirmed speakers for the Silk Road Gateway Poland summit, which is being held in Wroclaw from March 20-21.

One of the world’s leading authorities on the New Silk Road, and author of the acclaimed 2017 book, Revitalising the Silk Road. Prof Griffiths will examine how relying on the northern rail freight corridors risks missing out on the potential of harnessing the southern route markets.

Eric Groot Wassink, Director of Special Products at Nunner Logistics, which operates train services between Europe and China, will be taking part in a joint Q&A session with Thomas Kowitzki, Head of China Rail & Multimodal Europe at DHL Global Forwarding. They will share some of their company’s experiences of operating along the Silk Road.

Experiences

Onno de Jong, Consultant in Transport, Infrastructure & Mobility at European research company Ecorys, together with Wouter Jacobs, Researcher at Erasmus UPT at the Erasus School of Economics in The Netherlands, will look how the Silk Road is impacting on ocean and air freight, current volumes and capacities, and the long-term prospects.

The critical issue of security aboard freight trains will be addressed by Felix Scharwz, Expert in Telematic Solutions at Savvy Telematics, and he will give delegates an insight into the possibilities available to customers when it comes to tracking, tracing and observing their cargoes.

Also speaking at the two-day event will be Maciej Mastalerski, Managing Director of InterRail Poland, with a focus on how supply chains affect Poland and China; Julusz Skurewicz, of the Polish International Freight Forwarders Association and Dr Klara Paardenkooper, Senior Lecturer at Rotterdam Business School and an expert in Blockchain technology.

Partnerships

Providing a political perspective will be Ron JPM van Dartel, the Dutch Ambassador in Poland, who will speak about the importance of European partnerships. Already confirmed to speak is Karl Gheysen, Executive Director of KZT Express, and a member of the summit’s programme committee. He will look at the shift of the economic centre from the Benelux to eastern Europe, and pose questions about why eastern Europe is becoming ever-more important. The event also features technical site visits to the warehouse of Nunner Logistics and the 3M Innovation Centre in nearby Mirkuw.

Silk Road Gateway Poland takes place in Wroclaw, a growing logistics hotspot. View the programme and book your place now.