The 2015 Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year (YIFFY) Award has been presented to Daniella Smal of Zambia at the FIATA Annual Congress in Taipei.
10th September 2015
FIATA YIFFY Winner 2015 – (l to r) President of FIATA, Francesco Parisi; YIFFY Award winner, Daniella Smal and TT Club’s Mike Yarwood
FIATA celebrates the achievements of young freight forwarders working for logistics companies in its ranks at its Annual Congress every year. This year was no exception as the numerous attendees at the Taipei Congress applauded the winner of the Young Freight Forwarder of the Year (YIFFY) Award, Daniella Smal of Zambia.
Insurance provider to the international freight transport industry, TT Club is proud to have sponsored this award for each of its seventeen years and Claims Manager; Mike Yarwood was on hand to announce the winner and present the award with a brief speech, evocative of the important achievements in training made by FIATA and its members. Commenting on the outstanding quality of the work presented to the judges Yarwood said, “From a bewildering, yet highly professional array of entries the YIFFY Steering Committee selected a shortlist of four regional finalists. These four young professionals were then invited here to Taipei to face the judges and present their dissertation topic. Congratulations to all four finalists for their polished presentations and especially, of course to our winner Daniella”.
The four regional finalists were:
Africa/Middle East Mrs Daniella Smal, Zambia
Americas Mr Kaya Karakaya, Canada
Asia/Pacific Mr Madi Kassebekov, Kazakhstan
Europe Mrs Jennifer Taylor, England
The judges stressed that the dissertations this year were of a particularly high standard. The work of the entrants as a whole admirably demonstrated the complexity of processes carried out within the global supply chain and the logistics skills required to serve it. The diverse subjects covered by the dissertations included the transport of Liquid Argon, Copper Cathodes, High Fashion Garments and an Air Separation Plant, a clear example of the variety of challenges the industry is facing to provide crucial trade services.
The TT Club sponsored award is presented in recognition of operational excellence in the logistics field and was established by FIATA with the support of TT Club to encourage the development of quality training in the industry and to reward young talent with additional valuable training opportunities and enhanced visibility. The TT Club has been a sponsor of the award since its inception and remains firmly committed to the importance of individual training and development within the global freight forwarding and logistics community, which is regarded by FIATA as a strategic important cooperation.
Speaking on behalf of TT Club, Yarwood said, “We are pleased to be continuing our sponsorship of this unique award into 2016. Once again, we hope that the competition will prove to be successful in terms of attracting outstanding candidates from across the globe. The quality of the dissertations and presentations this year were of the usual exceptional standard and it was clear that a lot of research, planning and hard work had gone into their preparation.”
Inviting the Chairs of the FIATA Foundation, the FIATA Advisory Body Vocational Training and the FIATA Logistics Academy for the group photograph the President of FIATA, Francesco Parisi, said: “Learning is crucial for our young professionals to succeed in their career. This is the reason why over the years FIATA has maintained a proactive approach on logistics training by adopting the worldwide vocational training programme, where the ABVT ensures the compliance of the FIATA well known standards. Now the FIATA Logistics Academy comes to assist with extensive promotion and networking in this area, with the assistance of the Foundation and its focus on developing countries and territories, I consider the training package is now complete and quite appealing. The YIFFYA is really the accomplishment of this enthusiastic approach and its sight into our future contributes to making our ranks forward looking and capable of taking present and future challenges. I am grateful for the support we get form the TT Club and hold it in great esteem.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
TT Club is the international transport and logistics industry’s leading provider of insurance and related risk management services. As a mutual insurer, TT Club exists to provide its policyholders with benefits, which include specialist underwriting expertise, a world-wide office network providing claims management services, and first class risk management and loss prevention advice.
Customers include some of the world’s largest shipping lines, busiest ports, biggest freight forwarders and cargo handling terminals, to companies operating on a smaller scale but whose operations face similar risks. TT Club specialises in the insurance of Intermodal Operators, NVOCs, Freight Forwarders, Logistics Operators, Marine Terminals, Stevedores, Port Authorities and Ship Operators. TT Club is managed by Thomas Miller.
Thomas Miller is an independent and international provider of insurance, professional and investment services. Founded in 1885, Thomas Miller’s origins are in the provision of management services to mutual organisations, particularly in the international transport and professional indemnity sectors; where today they manage a large percentage of the foremost insurance mutuals. Thomas Miller also manages insurance facilities for all the self-employed barristers in England & Wales, as well as trustees of pension schemes, patent agents and housing associations.
Principal activities include:
- Management services for transport and professional indemnity insurance mutuals
- Investment management for institutions and private clients
- Professional services
- Building defects insurance
About FIATA
FIATA, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, was founded in Vienna, Austria on May 31st 1926. It is a non-governmental organisation that today represents an industry covering approximately 40,000 forwarding and logistics firms, employing around 10 million people in some 160 countries. FIATA has consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (inter alia ECE, ESCAP, ESCWA, etc.), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) as well as many other UN related bodies, e.g. the World Bank. It is recognised as representing the freight forwarding industry by many other governmental organisations, governmental authorities, private international organisations in the field of transport and logistics, such as the European Commission (through CLECAT), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Union of Railways (UIC), the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the World Customs Organization (WCO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), etc.