Logistics events take root in Latin America

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 4/1/1998

As trade with Latin America continues to grow, the need to improve the region's logistics-management skills has become clear. To do that, Latin American firms are looking to several sources, including transportation trade shows and educational conferences. These events are commonplace in other places, but they are a new phenomenon in Central and South America.

One of the most successful of these events is Intermodal '98, an exhibition and conference to be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the 14th through the 16th of this month. Now in its fourth year, the number of exhibitors has grown to about 150. Last year, more than 9,200 people attended the event. This year's educational program includes such topics as intermodalism's role in developing international trade and the financial, regulatory, and infrastructure changes to support intermodalism that now are under way throughout Latin America.

A new conference, to be held in Panama City, Panama, is the International Congress of Logistics Services, scheduled for June 23 to 25. The event will address a wide range of topics, including an analysis of Latin American logistics practices in comparison to world standards and a look at how freight transportation is changing in Latin America.