Week #05 – 2019

It is Thursday January 31st and Project Cargo Weekly is here again. In the last few weeks, there has been a lot of writing about the Chinese conglomerate Huawei. Huawei has become increasingly popular with its mobile phones and is already starting to surpass some of the major players in the world in the field of mobile telecoms and communication networks. Now, many governments are beginning to voice concerns regarding Huawei’s background in the Chinese military, but are they doing this from sour grapes or legitimate worry?

The Chinese government, like any other government, supports its own companies. They do this via business support whilst some western governments do it in another way. They let government agencies and so-called aid organisations do the job. I would recommend that you read a book called CIA: A Legacy of Ashes, which clearly explains the way in which the US has been involved in promoting their own worldwide influence, even helping to topple legitimate governments.

So the question for all of us is, are we in the West really so much ‘cleaner’ than the new giant rising in the East? We certainly spare no effort to try and gain access to their own market, but once they try to develop overseas, be it in shipping, terminals, mobile networks, construction etc. we immediately start seeing danger. Yes, certainly in the cleanest water, there are no fish (as Mao Tse Tung once famously remarked), but my opinion is that no-one is clean and people claiming to be cleaner or pointing their fingers at others only results in three fingers pointing back at them.

What has France done in Africa? What is Russia doing in their sphere of interest, what did the Dutch do in Indonesia, what did Denmark do in Greenland and The UK in Kenya? So, we don’t need to go far back in history to learn that it repeats itself in various ways. But crying wolf and being overly afraid of China is, to my mind, detrimental and we should look at our own history first, even recent history, before we whip up a storm about the Chinese taking over. I have no doubt that they are, in many ways, taking over, but it also has something to do with mentality, hard work, due diligence and ability to save. All areas where we in the West often come woefully short.

Right. Voicing opinions from my armchair is always easy, so perhaps I had better stick to something that I know a little about and introduce you to this week’s interviews. We start off in a country that has an awful recent history, Cambodia. It is a beautiful country but no one has forgotten the ‘killing fields’ and the havoc that Khmer Rouge wreaked on this country. So, it is a marvel to behold that they are trying to develop and get out of the shadows. Fast forward to the present and we are meeting with a logistics company in Phnom Penh that is trying to make ends meet. They tell us about logistics to and from their country.

We then travel to the UK, whilst our EU passports still make for easy travel there, to speak to a UK based logistics provider that also has aircraft charter experience and has branches established not only in the UK, but also in China. Finally we take a travel break and speak to one half of the Portuguese businessmen duo that have established an online platform to buy/sell freight jobs that you may find interesting in today’s online world.

We provide you with shipping news and, in particular, ask you to take note of SHIPNEXT which should be interesting for you. Also, note news on the development of railways in South East Asia. As usual we provide you with sector news and this week’s featured photo and video both focus on Cambodia. Wise Words round it all off.

On a final note, I shall be present at the Break Bulk Middle East Expo in Dubai on February 11th and 12th and I can be personally found from 13:00-14:00 at the Hoegh Autoliners booth 1003, in case you wish to meet or propose an interview for PCW. I would be pleased to meet up for a coffee or a glass of wine, while talking about life.

Wishing you well and until next week,

African Experience