Rahul Preeth
Doha
The FIFA World Cup is so often called the greatest show on earth — it is watched by an estimated 3 billion people all over the world; brings in nearly 1.5 million spectators, around 16,000 media personnel, more than 160 tonnes of luggage and roughly 450 tonnes of recyclable waste to the host country. And these are just the tip of an iceberg.
With the 2022 edition being hosted by Qatar, the domestic logistics and supply chain industries have work cut out for them.
"We are ready for it,” Ranjeev Menon, the chief executive of the largest logistical provider in Qatar, the Gulf Warehousing Company (GWC), told Qatar Tribune.
"We have a product which is catering to sports logistics, which has been handling not just small but big sporting events in the past. The World Cup is an opportunity and we are very well positioned to handle it,” Menon said on the sidelines of GWC’s general assembly meeting held in Doha on Monday.
GWC Sports, which offers a raft of services including venue management, freight distribution and reverse logistics, boasts 600 freight offices worldwide, 1,200 transport vehicles and 2,200 employees, according to its website.
Having had a "great year” in 2018, Menon said the company finds significant potential — further accentuated in the run-up to the 2022 spectacle — in warehousing and freight logistics in the coming years.
"We have had two revenue streams added to out portfolio this year — GWC Marine Services and LEDD Technologies. The company’s contract logistics, forwarding, and projects departments have made major inroads in developing contracts with clients in the oil and gas, government, broadcasting, and sports sector,” Menon said.
The company, he added, has received much recognition in the field as a result. Recently, GWC was named the "best customs brokerage company” in 2018 by the General Authority of Customs. The same year also saw the company bagging the "digital transformation award” by Microsoft for its achievements in leading the company’s digital initiatives.
GWC achieved net profits of QR 237.5 million in 2018, representing an increase of 10 percent against QR215.4 million in 2017.
"Several challenges lay ahead in 2019, but we strive to continue the growth momentum we have been building up over the last several years,” Menon said. Joint ventures are part of GWC’s growth strategy and several initiatives are in the pipeline, he added.