Government officials, corporate executives, logistics practitioners and academics got an update of the latest trends and developments in logistics at the Procurement & e-Logistics Management Symposium 2002 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 26 and 27 March.

The two-day symposium was organized by CityU and the Hong Kong Productivity Council. Speakers were also invited to participate at the Meeting Global Challenges in Procurement and Logistics forum at CityU on 27 March.

"To complement the HKSAR government's strategic initiative to make Hong Kong the preferred Asian hub for global logistics, CityU has already developed supply chain management and logistics management programmes, at different academic award levels, to train and nurture Hong Kong's procurement and logistics professionals," said Mr James Ng, Vice-President (Business & Finance).

The Hong Kong government has identified logistics, which is economically critical to Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta Region, as a strategic area of development. The forum provided an opportunity for interested staff and students to share their knowledge and experiences with top executives from the mainland, the US and the UK: Mr Ding Junfa, Vice Executive Chairman, China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing; Mr Paul Novak, CEO of the Institute for Supply Management, and Miss Melinda Johnson, Head of Policy and Representation of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.

The three discussed problems confronting the mainland and Hong Kong in the development of logistics industries, the challenges and trends in supply management and the steps that supply management professionals must take to succeed, and the new procurement trend in Europe.