Paul Zalai.
The Australian Federation of International Forwarders (AFIF) and advocacy body Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) have formed an alliance to address a range of emerging operational issues.
The alliance will see the two entities committing resources to work with government and commerce on a range of ongoing reform initiatives.
AFIF CEO Brian Lovell said the alliance with FTA adds weight to AFIF's continued focus on port reforms, statutory reporting and compliance issues: "This will build on our strengths with international affiliations and will secure AFIF's standing as the peak entity representing the Australian freight forwarding and customs broker sector."
FTA director Paul Zalai said the alliance brings together diverse interest groups: "FTA is in a unique position to provide a respected, influential and holistic industry perspective in advocacy activity."
The alliance also facilitates the opportunity to combine resources with FTA subscribers benefitting from discounted AFIF technical training and both entities promoting Real Institute management and operational training.
Real Institute has established a range of nationally recognised training courses at the Certificate III to Diploma level tailored for the freight and trade sectors. These cover sales, management, leadership, warehousing, WHS, customer contact and logistics.
Mr Zalai said the arrangement with Real Institute will provide distinct benefits to industry through the delivery of quality and cost-effective services: "The fast and easily accessible government training incentives provide industry a great return on investment and clear outcomes to improve operational performance."