Foreword: Past, Present, and Predictions

The world has witnessed Dubai’s groundbreaking achievements in logistics and multi-modal transport, and will continue to do so in the coming years.

With its superb infrastructure, Dubai has become a major player in global trade, as well as the regional trade and transport gateway of choice. The Emirate’s reputation for excellence in transport logistics has been built over many years due to the contributions of individuals like Issa Baluch.

As a local industry leader, he has pioneered new projects and brought a new level of professionalism and global consciousness to the freight forwarding industry. As President of FIATA, he has demonstrated effective leadership on an international level.

And now, as an author, this industry veteran offers much-needed advice and inspiration to the global freight logistics industry. This highly informative book sheds new light on a number of monumental logistics projects of the past that were vast in their scope and challenges.

It was the author’s own curiosity about these innovations that led him to look for lessons to be learned from history’s great logistics leaders. Whether they were crossing a mountain range with an army of thousands of men, airlifting millions of tons of food, or transporting millions of sandstone blocks to build a monument, the logisticians profiled in this book all had to strategize, coordinate, and then carefully implement their plans in order to overcome great obstacles and achieve success.

But the author is not content to remain in the past. Issa Baluch clearly has a vision for the possibilities that the future holds for global trade and transport; therein lies the great value of Transport Logistics: Past, Present and Predictions.

Today’s freight logistics providers, like their historical counterparts, also face major obstacles and daunting challenges, from changing trade regulations to new technologies and new sources of competition.

Their importance as links in complex global supply chains cannot be overstated. If they are to succeed, they must be equipped to compete and evolve, and resources like this book can help them do so.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum President, Dubai Department of Civil Aviation Chairman, The Emirates Group