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. He started as tally clerk at Gulf Agency Company in Dubai in 1973, rising to general manager.

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 recently re-elected as President of the Dubai-based National Association of Freight and Logistics, and serves on the Board of Directors of the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (president, 2003-2005) and The International Air Cargo Association. He has served on the Advisory Board of Dubai Logistics City, and the Marketing Committee of Dubai Flower Centre.

Baluch is the author of Transport Logistics: Past, Present and Predictions, which is available in five languages. He currently works as an industry consultant, providing counsel and advice to supply chain organizations around the world.

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 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.