Container Shipping and Logistics as a Catalyst for Growth in Developing Countries

Around 50 people from both academia and industry attended the seminar. Photo: CBS Maritime

Arranged by CBS Maritime in collaboration with Centre for Business and Development Studies at CBS and A.P. Moeller Maersk, the event provided research-based insights on how container shipping and advanced logistics services play a key role in facilitating growth and prosperity in developing countries.

A key take-away from the seminar was that the possibility for growth in developing countries is highly dependent on infrastructure and advanced logistic operations, with Vietnam being a textbook case.

- Maersk has played a key role in relation to Vietnam’s export and in integrating the country into global value chains that account for almost 80% of global trade today. Along with the company´s key position of integrating Vietnamese producers into global trade, A.P. Moeller Maersk has through the development of infrastructure and network, connectivity and  through upgrading organizational capacities in Vietnam, been one of the main drivers of growth in Vietnam, together with other central players in the market, says Industrial PhD fellow Majbritt Greve.

Together with Professor Lauri Ojala from Turku School of Economics, Professor Dong-Wook Song from World Maritime University and Head of Group History Documentation in Maersk Group, Henning Morgen, she presented her research on the subject as an Industrial PhD fellow in collaboration between CBS and Maersk.

CBS Maritime Director, Associate Professor Henrik Sornn-Friese, highlights the importance of bringing together academia and industry at events such as this:

- The role of multinational companies, and especially shipping and logistics companies, in connecting developing economies to global trade by fitting local businesses into global value chains is an academically interesting research topic, which also has important implications for policy and practice. Bringing scholars and practitioners together to discuss such issues is a means to bridge any divide between business and academia.

The event took place as part of Danish Maritime Days, a major annual event in Denmark for the global maritime industry.

- Taking active part in the execution of Danish Maritime Days means that CBS and our contributions to maritime research and education become highly visible and intensely profiled during that week to both a national and international audience, says Henrik Sornn-Friese.

The seminar concluded with a panel discussion on topics such as: What are best practices of shipping and logistics MNCs in developing countries? (How) Can container shipping and logistics MNCs play a more proactive role in development?; What do we know about this role and where are the gaps in our knowledge that begs scholarly research?

From left: Associate Professor Henrik Sornn-Friese (standing), Industrial PhD Fellow Majbritt Greve, Head of Group History Documentation Henning Morgen, Lead Group Advisor (CSR) Maersk Group Jens Munch Lund-Nielsen, Professor Dong-Wook Song and Professor Lauri Ojala.

Photo: CBS Maritime