On 11 September 2018, Riga will host the fifth annual international transport and logistics industry conference Global Transport Development Challenges organised by VAS Latvijas dzelzceļš (LDz), where high-profile Latvian and foreign experts will discuss how the global events in politics, economics, science and society affect the transport and logistics industry and how they can be used for the advancement of the industry.
Over these years, Riga and the LDz conference have become an important meeting point for transport and logistics industry experts and decision-makers from European and Asian countries.
This year, the conference will focus on technological achievements that create new synergies and unexpected opportunities for cooperation and innovation. It will look into the trends and opportunities for creating new types of cooperation both within and outside the transport and logistics industry to ensure successful business development in today’s intense competition.
Alongside technological developments and the creation of new routes, the matters up for discussion include railway development, competitiveness and financing mechanisms.
One of the main subjects of the conference is the potential of Latvia as a centre of excellence for transport and logistics in respect to the connection between Northern European and Asian countries and involvement in the International North–South Transport Corridor.
The co-founder of the British organisation TomorrowToday Global and futurist Dean van Leeuwen, American railway industry expert and current Director of Economic Research at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and visiting professor at the Kiev School of Economics Prof. Russel Pittman, Siemens Osakeyhtio representative Juha Lehtonen and other high-profile transport and logistics industry experts have already confirmed their participation in the conference.
Insight into the previous conferences: