Chairman Message 2017
I must be among friends today, so to all my friends a very good morning.
Networking around the World
Today, I proudly stand among all of you as incredible as it may seems, we have successfully achieved not just to hold another 10th C P World “global meeting”, but rather 10 consecutive yearly meeting. As I look back, I would have been lying if I tell you now that it was the intention 10 years ago! Thank you all for being part of making this possible. On the way here, I have thought about it and can take the satisfaction that our meeting not only generate business for C P offices but it surely generate business among participating agents too. I hope attending a C P World global meeting has been undoubtedly the single most productive way for you to boost your revenues, expand your company, and raise your company’s profile around the exclusively selected agencies over the last 10 years. It certainly has for me!
I am also thrill to announce that Total Transport in India, a company which I am a part shareholder has recently been taken public in India. A number of my closer circle would have known of the difficultly I faced the last few years due to a huge personal wrong investment. I would like to thank Ken for backing me up both financially and emotionally despite my hardship instead of choosing the easier way out of abandoning me. Thank you …..Ken. (of course like an elder brother, he has not let me off lightly either) TTS as a local Mumbai company has the prestige of being the C P World India brand management.
Now having gone a full circle of ten years, taken a learning journey I humbly hope that a C P World meeting still work at gathering delegates in one location, and offers its own unique benefits and business opportunities that only face-to-face meetings can achieve. Nothing beats being face to face and renewing friendship.
Whether building on relationships or meeting and creating new partners, C P W meeting offer a golden opportunity to each and every member. Furthermore, the annual meeting saves weeks of travel time and thousands of dollars in travel expenses by allowing each member to conduct pre-arranged meetings with fellow agents from around the world. You can conduct more business in a single day at a C P W meeting than can be achieved in a month of business travel.
With attendance at the meeting growing year-on-year it is clear the value each participants gets from participating far exceeds even the highest expectations.
C P World is like the air you breathe. You will notice only when it is gone,” A former network agent once told me. Indeed, people from outside the network sometimes tend to see its significance more clearly than those within. I trust this is not the feeling of the majority who has attended almost every meeting.
So, where do we go from here?
A NEED TO MOVE FASTER
There is no question that C P World needs to move faster, for to stand still would be suicidal. Cargo sources are shifting and markets are ever more competitive. Witness, for instance, how Vietnam has begun to disrupt the export flow. Taking over the dominant export markets of South East Asia.
Not just must we increase the local sales effort of each countries, but we must act and move faster.
Not just must we be more aggressive in competing for the cargo, but we must also act faster to ensure the viability of cost of moving that cargo.
While I have advocated in the past that joint-sales campaign may be an expensive exercise, but it is a necessary evil that we must accept.
Our management team is one that always will be actively involved, no matter how big we get. Our business is to understand and react to yours. We create long-term partnerships that are based upon reciprocal business and joint sales growth. Let’s maintain neutrality, and protect our clients, while providing market feedback, and above all, provide an excellent service.
This year our corporate office faces with a greater challenge as we add on Affinity Event that runs on the side in conjunction with the main C P World Global meeting.
The 2 affinity events are specialised logistics business that have financial interest with C P World Group management. They are Autobox, a specialist car logistics business and C L Air Express, a local courier and parcel business. They are not here to compete for our LCL business, but rather here to introduce and seek opportunity with you.
We thought it would a good idea to have them on show and perhaps give everyone an added alternative business in logistics.
Enough said, our core business is still “NVOCC” lets ensure we are able to sustain our business and keep the momentum going.
Good luck.
Makarand Pradhan
Group Chairman
