Resilience is a key trait for companies seeking to navigate global challenges, from pandemics to recessions, said Sue Donoghue, Arab Cluster CEO (Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia) at DHL Global Forwarding.

Speaking during the Bahrain International Airshow in November, she said: “The main thing is resilience, supply chains have always been agile, but now the focus has had to be even more on the collaboration between the consumers, between the manufacturers, between the supply companies, so I think the collaboration has been key.

“In terms of resilience, having to have that out-of-the-box thinking, we’ve gone from off-shoring to near-shoring, so the landscape has changed slightly.

“Digitalisation has played a big, big role in all of this. The real focus as well as all of this is also on sustainability, because that agenda is still there, and continues to be a huge focus.”

Competitiveness

She added: “As the world goes into recession, we have to look at the capacities, we have to look at freight rates, we have to look at the supply, the demand, and manage it because at the end of the day, the competitiveness of the industry is going to be even more strong now and we are in a very good position.

“At DHL where we have a strong portfolio of products across the entire supply chain, we’re blessed but we also have to bear in mind that there is a lot of competition and everybody’s going to be competing.”
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