About the Author
Issa Baluch is credited with pioneering the thriving sea-air combined transport freight business in the UAE. He holds a Master of Business degree from the University of Hull (U.K.) and has completed numerous aviation, transport, and freight logistics programs. Baluch was invited by the Harvard University to take part in the Advanced Leadership Initiative Program, which eventually made him a fully-fledged Senior Fellow in 2011.
In 1989, he founded Swift Freight International, which quickly gained a reputation as one of the top freight logistics providers in the region.
Baluch was president of the Dubai-based National Association of Freight and Logistics from 1992-2000, and was again re-elected to the post and served from 2010 to 2011. He serves on the Board of Directors of the International Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations – FIATA (president, 2003-2005). He previously served as Board member of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) from 2005 to 2013; and on the Advisory Board of Dubai Logistics City, and the Marketing Committee of Dubai Flower Centre.
For his outstanding services to the international air cargo industry, Baluch has so far received two Lifetime Achievement awards: in 2006 presented by Air Cargo News UK, and in 2013 presented by STAT Trade Times.
Baluch is the author of Transport Logistics: Past, Present and Predictions, which is available in four languages; and the recently launched, Transport Logistics: The Wheel of Commerce.
He is currently engaged in projects in Africa concerning agriculture, as well as oil and gas, in conjunction with the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also works as an industry consultant, providing counsel and advice to supply chain organizations around the world.
Charles H.W. Edwards : (Co-Author, Transport Logistics: The Wheel of Commerce)
Charles H.W. Edwards has been engaged in the commercial aviation and logistics industry since 1970. He held senior management positions with the North Carolina-based airline that started United Parcel Service Airlines, and with a U.K.-based charter passenger airline. He has managed a commercial airport and has been a senior advisor to public and private aviation projects in the United States, Germany, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Edwards was appointed Executive Director of the North Carolina Center for Global Logistics which is a transport and logistics focused educational organization. He was president of the U.S. subsidiary of the German company CargoLifter and executive vice president of Advanced Composite Structures. He holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto, M.Sc. from the University of Reading, and MBA from the Darden Graduate Business School of the University of Virginia. He has been a guest lecturer at North Carolina State University and the University of New Mexico, and is a frequent speaker at aviation and logistics meetings globally. He is an Industry Fellow at the Kenan Institute for Private Enterprise, and serves on the Education Committee of The International Air Cargo Association.
