Latviski
On October 12-14 the Freeport of Riga Authority took part in the China (Shenzhen) International Logistics and Transportation Fair (CILF), which is regarded as a leading logistics and transport exhibition in Asia. Exhibition success might be attributed to its location - Shenzhen, which being the largest industrial region in Southern China, continues its rapid industrial development. This year the exhibition has been held for the 10th time and over the years it attracted a wide range of loyal participants and visitors as well as gained good international reputation and popularity. The Freeport of Riga Authority took part in the exhibition together with the port company “Riga Container Terminal” Ltd and “TFS Trans” Ltd. The Riga port representatives participated in the exhibition at Latvian common stand together with the representatives of the port of Ventspils and Liepaja SEZ, promoting Latvian transit corridor. The Freeport of Riga is the largest containerized cargo handling hub in Latvia, therefore containerized cargo attraction in the framework of the program “One Belt, One Road” program and participation in the Forum in China is particularly important for Riga port representatives.
At the exhibition stand the Freeport representatives met with Chinese operators and cargo carriers that are interested in the fastest and cheapest containerized cargo delivery to Europe. According to the representatives of the company “Riga Container Terminal” Ltd, the Chinese freight customers consider the New Silk Road idea and capabilities to deliver the containers to the port of Riga by rail as a very interesting and promising future option, but currently the main goal is to reach out to potential customers who are interested in Chinese goods delivery to Russia and Belarus. The Port of Riga was presented as an efficient transit hub for containerized cargo delivery to destinations in these countries. The main advantages of the Port of Riga in regards of the containerized cargo transit are the free zone regime opportunities, good connections to destinations in Russia and Belarus with both regular container train and road transport, as well as practical experience of efficient, prompt and qualitative transportation of relevant cargo.
The company “TFS Trans” Ltd participation in the exhibition resulted in a number of cooperation agreements with Chinese businessmen. “TFS Trans” Ltd, operating at the Riga port, owns the largest closed warehouse facilities in the Baltic countries, as well as warehouses in Shanghai. That is why the company is actively working to develop freight transportation chain between Shanghai and the port of Riga. It is also exploring the possibilities for the development of China's e-commerce sales network in the Baltic region.
