The Abu Dhabi-based entity hosted celebration of the logistics community in event prior to completion of sale to Danish company DSV
Houssam Mahmoud, CEO of Abu Dhabi-based logistics and warehousing specialist Agility, has paid tribute to his company and its peers in a gala dinner held on St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort. Billed as Agility’s Appreciation Night, the event was held to recognise the contribution the sector has played over the past 16 months to alleviate the impact of Covid-19 on the city and wider emirate – as well as to help kick-start the economy.
“Early on, we deployed a task team and engaged our global network in over 100 countries and 17,000 colleagues to support government initiatives by enabling the supply chain of both private and public sectors,” Mahmoud said.
“Our team was relentless during the toughest times, during curfews, port closures, equipment shortage… delivering goods and supplies to the UAE. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them and our experienced network across the globe for their contribution and dedication."
Mahmoud went on to praise the government’s “plan for crisis management that will stand as a testimony to UAE’s wise and experienced leadership.”Agility emerged as one of the critical partners for the Department of Health’s efforts to distribute essential PPE and equipment throughout the pandemic.
They also provided help in sourcing medication and, importantly, the vaccines as and when they became available, helping the country achieve the world’s highest vaccination rates.
“They also are part of what we are calling now the Hope Consortium,” said Dr Omar Najim, Executive Office Director of the Department of Health. This is one of the most significant logistical partnerships that exists between different logistical solution providers across the world.”
The event provided an opportunity for Mahmoud to thank Agility's partners in person for the work they undertook during these efforts. Among those recognised included Etihad Airlines, healthcare solutions provider RAFED, Unilabs, the National Reference Laboratory and Petrofac.
"Covid-19 gave us lots of lessons that I believe were instrumental in helping us to prepare ourselves for the future,” said Mahmoud. “This is a milestone in our history, in the history of humanity. I personally believe this will make us stronger for future challenges.
In terms of logistics, we adopted much leaner and more progressive approaches that will help us to go into the future, and this taught everyone around the system that we have a supply chain, that we are part of the chain and that everybody needs to work together.”
The event was both a thank you and also, in part, a farewell. In April, 2021, it was confirmed that Agility’s global logistics arm was being bought by Danish company DSV in a $4.1bn deal. According to DSV CEO Jens Bjorn Andersen, the deal will increase DSV’s global market share in the fragmented freight-forwarding industry to close to 5 percent.
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