Multiple factors responsible for supply chain crisis: Al-Sayed

HE the Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Free Zones Authority Ahmad bin Mohamed al-Sayed said that the supply chain crisis was a result of a number of factors, such as the slowdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the repercussions of lockdowns in Shanghai, which contributes 10% of global trade, in addition to the Ukrainian crisis, food price inflation and the sudden demand that occurred after the pandemic.During his participation in the second edition of the Qatar Economic Forum 2022, Powered by Bloomberg, al-Sayed said in a session titled "The Supply Chain Crisis" that among the causes of the crisis is the rapid growth and the return to normal following the pandemic, which put great pressure on these supply chains, as well as the disruptions to supply and changes to consumer behaviour.He stressed that it is not easy to solve these problems, especially that the prices of some sea container shipments have increased by 60%, which affected food prices, transport and supply chains in general.He pointed out the importance of intervention from international and governmental segments, and supporting the private sector in overcoming the disruption of supply chains, as well as the importance of providing more logistical services for warehousing and capabilities available in the long term, such as long-term food supply and storage in a strategic location.This includes all logistical work in airports, buildings and surrounding infrastructure, he said and explained that the response to the supply chain crisis must take different levels of government and collective action, in addition to the role of international organisations to facilitate the transportation of goods, trade and the logistics associated with the movement of goods.Al-Sayed highlighted that airports, customs, airlines, and companies must adopt different measures to ensure supply chains run smoothly.He added that policies boosting trade and increasing storage capacities have a role to play as well.For his part, CEO of the Omani ASYAD Group Abdulrahman Salim al-Hatmi said that the Gulf ports were able, thanks to the infrastructure and the high quality of their systems, to respond to the challenges of the pandemic and dealt with flexibility and did not close during the pandemic period, which helped ensure the smooth-running of supply chains, pointing out that port closures in some countries such as the US and China led to chaos, the effects of which are still ongoing.He also called for the importance of looking at the concept of multiple sources of supply chains, addressing supply chain infrastructure issues, creating alternative mechanisms and a different view of port closure policies due to the importance of business continuity, in addition to the cooperation of countries, governments and the financial and business sector.In the same context, Cabinet Secretary at the Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government of the Republic of Kenya Fred Matiangi said the supply chain crisis reflected the traditional methods of production and the unwillingness of governments to face some bureaucratic challenges, considering that the Ukrainian war imposed a new global order.He added that there's new data that requires restoring the relationship between government and business, as well as adopting new methods of supply chain management, building local capacities and maintaining stock and skills in the local economies.