Last week several Dutch and South African companies signed a letter of intent for cooperation in the area of logistics. This occurred during an official ceremony with the Dutch trade mission to South Africa, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, and the Secretary of State, Martijn van Dam.
The letter of intent was signed by Konanani Liphadzi (CEO of Fruit South Africa), the representative of the South African fruit sector, and Peter Verbaas (Deputy Director Frugi Venta) and Nanno Kleiterp (CEO of FMO), representatives of the Flying Swans Consortium. The Consortium is a collaboration between Mercator Novus, Frugi Venta, Boskalis, the Port of Rotterdam and FMO. The South African transport company, Transnet, has already given their support to the collaboration.
New approach
The 'Flying Swans' is a new approach for Dutch companies to jointly operate on a global scale with integrated cross-sector offerings, including finance. The Flying Swans Consortium is made up of representatives from the Dutch fresh produce sector, logistics, the maritime industry and the Dutch development bank.
The initiative has two purposes: connect emerging markets to the global value chain, and create a sustainable role for Dutch companies to participate in local, regional and South-North trade flows.
Improving the cold chain
The goal of the signatories in this specific area is to jointly implement improvements in the South African agro-logistics system, with a great deal of focus on an unbroken cold chain.
Fruit South Africa
Fruit South Africa is the representative body of the fresh fruit industry in South Africa.
Consortium Flying Swans
The Flying Swans is a Dutch consortium made up of Mercator Novus, developer of agro-logistics concepts for improved efficiency; Frugi Venta, the representative body of the fresh produce sector and collaborator with DPA in the GroentenFruit Huis; Boskalis, a global onshore and offshore infrastructure provider, the Port of Rotterdam and FMO, the Dutch development bank, with the goal of facilitating more integrated programs.
