October 17, 2007

The "Air Cargo Summit Kazakhstan 2007" was held  in Almaty, 14 to 16 October  2007, by Almaty International Airport, supported by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and by Almaty City Administration (Akimat). That was the second international cargo event in Kazakhstan (the first one took place in 2006). More than 100 participants representing cargo business around the world attended the event.

From airlines and airports, to logistic and freight forwarding companies expressed interest and sent their delegates to the Summit, - Lufthansa Cargo, DHL International Kazakhstan, FedEx, KLM Cargo, Panalpina World Transport, Reibel Transportation and Trade Inc., Logistic Centre, Aviation Management Solutions (My Cargo), ART Logistics, AMADEUS Global Distribution System, ALS Advanced Logistic Systems GmbH to name a few.

The opening speech was delivered by Mr A.Bekturov, the vice Minister of Transport and Communications. On behalf the other government bodies, the guests were greeted by Almaty deputy mayor Mr M.Mukhashev, and by the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee, Mr  M.Kubayev, 

The first day of the Summit was dedicated to presentations of the Almaty International Airport's new projects:

• Construction of the new passenger terminal.

• "Airport City" project;

• The second stage of construction of multimodal terminal;

• The second runway construction.

The second day of the forum was scheduled to airline delegates' discussions about the opportunities and prospects of Almaty International Airport for the cargo airlines, and some speakers even shared their plans to extend their business with Almaty Airport.

According to the forum participants, such meetings cannot be overestimated, for they facilitate the dialogue of aviation business with the governments, establish better contacts with potential partners and help to exchange professional experience.