TT Club, leading international freight insurer, is very proud to continue its sponsorship of FIATA's Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award (YIFFYA), now in its nineteenth year.

FIATA and TT Club duly recognise the succession challenges facing many areas of the global supply chain and therefore the need to invest in the development and education of young logistics professionals. The YIFFYA competition provides opportunities for all candidates, of which there were 17 this year, to demonstrate and develop their knowledge of the industry. The competition remains both challenging and rewarding; each candidate being required to submit a 6,000 word dissertation outlining a complex import and export shipment in which they have been involved.

Each year four regional finalists are selected and are invited to attend the FIATA World Congress, providing each candidate with invaluable learning and networking opportunities. The overall winner of the International Award will have the opportunity to attend two, one week training sessions with the TT Club at one of its regional headquarters in London, New Jersey or Hong Kong. The winner also receives a year's subscription to the industry publication, International Transport Journal (ITJ).

The four regional finalists, selected this year from the 17 young professionals representing their respective national associations which embraced the challenge are:-

Region: Africa/Middle East:

Region: Americas:

Region: Asia/Pacific:

Region: Europe:

The entries this year were of a particularly high standard and produced a wide range of dissertation topics. The cargo moves chosen in many cases provided a captivating experience for the nine strong judging panel, making the selection of the four regional finalists extremely tough.

The level of knowledge and the dedication demonstrated by the candidates this year was humbling; the future of these passionate individuals must be embraced to safeguard a bright future for the logistics industry.

The work of the candidates fully demonstrated the complexity of processes carried out within the global supply chain and the required logistics skills to service it. Cargoes featured in this year's dissertations included Zoological Animals, Olympic Team Equipment, Agricultural Chemicals, Wine and Raw Tea, all of which exhibit the true diversity of the industry.

The regional finalists will travel to FIATA's World Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (4th- 8th October 2017) in order to present their dissertations to the Steering Committee and be in contention for the overall International Award.

Mike Yarwood, TT Club's Senior Loss Prevention Executive and Chair of the Award Steering Committee, commented, "From a highly professional and broad array of entries the YIFFYA judging panel have selected a shortlist of four regional finalists. We greatly appreciate the continued support of the National Associations in submitting candidates to participate in, what we feel is a highly valuable competition. Whilst we celebrate the four finalists, we must congratulate all 17 candidates for their achievements in this year's competition."