Good morning, nice people. The logistics world is still quiet in our corner of the world, with just a few updates from Iran and a very strong earnings release from Saudi Arabia’s Bahri. But with the number of logistics events coming up this week, we expect the pace to pick up soon.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- Iran’s seven freezones are looking to attract EUR 5 bn worth of domestic and foreign investments from 370 projects that are currently being studied.

We’re only five days away from meeting with some of you at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum, taking place at the Four Seasons at the Nile Plaza on Monday, 15 May.

We’re proud to announce that our friend Tarek Kamel, CEO, Nestle Egypt, is joining us for the forum. Are you? Tarek Kamel is going to be speaking on what it takes to become part of a multinational’s supply chain. He is joined on stage for that discussion by Omar Elsahy, general manager at Amazon Egypt, and Khaled Morsy, CEO of DB Schenker Egypt, to discuss what multinationals look for in local providers and how they can gel.

More speakers to come: Among the CEOs, top execs, bankers, and development finance folks speaking at the conference are (in no particular order): Yasmine Khamis, chair of the Orientals Group; Mark Wyllie, CEO of Beyti; Shady William, managing director of IDG; Mohamed Talaat Khalifa, CEO of Concrete; Hossam Sallab, CEO and vice-chairman of Sallab Group and Royal Ceramica; Abdallah Sallam, CEO of Madinet Masr; Kareem Abou Ghaly, chairman and CEO of Pasta Regina; Tarek Hosny, head of investments and projects at Fertiglobe; Helmy Ghazi, deputy CEO of HSBC Egypt; Nadia El-Tawil, investment officer at AfricInvest; Mostafa Bedair, CEO of Giza Seeds and Herbs; Nada El Ahwal, CSO of Transmar; Hassan Massoud, associate director and head of private equity (Southern Mediterranean) at the EBRD; Cheick-Oumar Sylla, director for North Africa and the Horn of Africa at the IFC; Hossam Abou Moussa, partner at Apis; Yassir Zouaoui, partner at McKinsey; and Mohamed El Gebely, Team Leader at USAID Trade.

Topics and live interviews will include:

• Why exports and FDI are the way forward and what lessons have worked from around the world;
• How to attract foreign partners and figure out what they are looking for;
• What lessons can we draw from white goods, fertilizers, and garments exporters who have increased our exports;
• What are the fundamentals to creating an export and / or FDI strategy;
• How industrial clusters could expedite exports and FDI and is a possibly avenue for SME development;
• How Egypt’s industries need to be open to evolution to become more competitive.

Tap or click here to explore the full agenda.

** Have you confirmed your attendance? Invitations have been sent out over the past few weeks. If you have yet to confirm your attendance and would still like to join us, please reply to the invitation with an RSVP.

HAPPENING TODAY-

DATA POINT- DXB sees decline in cargo handling in 1Q 2023: Dubai International Airport handled some 400k tons of cargo during 1Q 2023, marking a 23% y-o-y decline, according to Dubai Airports. The airport recorded a 55.8% y-o-y increase in passenger traffic during the quarter, reaching 95.6% of its 2019 pre-pandemic levels, and saw total flight movements during the quarter rise 23% y-o-y to 100.8k.

WATCH THIS SPACE#1- Could Arab transport firms soon have a hand in transporting Indian goods to Israel? Arab train networks could in the future carry Indian goods to the Israeli port of Haifa, Indian news outlet The Hindu quotes Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen as saying at the India-Israel Business Forum. “Our vision is that Israel, the Gulf Arab countries and India create the gate of the east to the west,” Cohen reportedly said. “The trade that will come from India will land at an Arab port and from there can be taken by train to Haifa port,” he reportedly said.

Background: Israel has been working to normalize ties with Arab countries over the past few years, and has managed to strike peace treaties with countries including the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Egypt is set to establish its first internal trade information center, under an agreement signed by the supply and military production ministries, according to a Supply Ministry statement. The agreement aims to advance domestic trade infrastructure, enhance its technical staff's skills, and increase the efficiency of commercial registry management and services offered to members of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce and the Federation of Egyptian Industries.

MARKET WATCH-

Russian crude shipments continue to rise despite OPEC+ cuts: Russian four-week average crude shipments hit new highs over the past month, despite assertions that the country is cutting production, according to Bloomberg data. Numbers for the one-month period ending 5 May were the highest since the beginning of Bloomberg’s data set in early 2022. The majority of the shipments went to India and China, with export volumes to Asia setting a new all-time-high. Russia claims that high volumes of seaborne shipments to Asia were counterbalanced by a reduction in pipeline flows to Europe — though Bloomberg notes that these claims do not add up, and that the only drop in flows to Europe was recorded in January and February, before OPEC+ announced production cuts to buoy oil markets.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Export Potential Exhibition of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran Expo 2023) kicked off on Sunday and is running until tomorrow at the Tehran International Permanent Fairground in Tehran, Iran. The event aims to help companies develop new markets, promote their industries, export their products, and enable Iran to develop economic ties with other countries. The industries being discussed at the exhibit include food and beverage, agriculture, livestock, fisheries, mining, petrochemicals, textile and handcrafts, tourism, and medicine.

The Airport Show kicks off today and runs until this Thursday at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The event will see hundreds of experts in the aviation industry gather to discuss topics crucial to the sector.

Today is the last day of the Global Green Future Fuel (G2F2) conference at Le Meridien Hotel in Dubai. The event focuses on green fuels like ethanol, green hydrogen, biofuels as well as production, trade and technology.

The Transport Logistic Trade Fair kicked off yesterday at the Center Messe München in Munich, Germany and runs through this Friday.

The African Aviation Summit: Air Finance Africaconference is running today through Friday at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Global air cargo industry exhibition Air Cargo Europe 2023kicked off yesterday and runs through Friday in Munich, Germany.

Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming events and news triggers.