The 2026 FIATA-Region Asia-Pacific (RAP) Field Meeting recently concluded in Tianjin, bringing together FIATA members, regional partners, and the broader Asia-Pacific freight forwarding and logistics community.
Hosted by the China International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFA) alongside the 4th Tianjin International Shipping Industry Expo, the three-day event served as a critical platform for addressing the core priorities transforming the logistics sector: digitalization, trade documentation, sustainability, and regional connectivity.
Highlighting the event’s strategic importance, a high-level FIATA delegation was received by Mr. Wang Xiufeng, Vice-Mayor of Tianjin Municipality, and Mr. Sun Jiannan, Director of the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce, for a closed-door meeting.
The Tianjin authorities warmly welcomed FIATA’s debut participation in the Shipping Industry Expo, expressing a strong desire to deepen long-term cooperation, secure FIATA’s involvement in future editions, and position Tianjin as a premier global hub for international transport and logistics events.
The second day of the field meeting featured a high-impact joint session with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), opened by FIATA President Prof. Dr. Thomas Sim. The session focused heavily on multimodal digitalization and the evolving landscape of electronic trade documentation.
Key highlights from the joint session included:
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Infrastructure & Legal Frameworks: Mr. Fedor Kormilitsyn, Economic Affairs Officer at UNESCAP’s Transport Division, detailed recent progress on the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) Network and dry port developments—including a new online database for North/Central Asia and Mongolia. He also highlighted UNESCAP’s collaboration with FIATA, UNCITRAL, and the ICC to advance the UN Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents (NCD Convention), previewing an upcoming regional workshop in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Transport in Bangkok this November.
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Paperless Efficiency in Action: FIATA Director General Dr. Stéphane Graber demonstrated how the FIATA electronic Bill of Lading (eFBL) practically enables the NCD Convention. He showcased two successful real-life pilot transactions—from Kazakhstan to China and Turkmenistan to Romania—proving the superior speed, security, and efficiency of digital documents over traditional paper.
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The 30-Minute Border Crossing: A joint presentation with the Global Digital Trade Centre (Global DTC) on the Middle Corridor digitalization initiative revealed stunning efficiency gains. By implementing a unified digital framework, the time required to process transit declarations at the China–Kazakhstan border plummeted from up to twelve hours down to just thirty minutes, while providing full end-to-end cargo visibility.
The 2026 RAP Field Meeting successfully reinforced the vital role of the freight forwarding industry in boosting global supply chain resilience, while cementing Tianjin Port’s trajectory as an essential international logistics hub driving regional economic growth.
