With over a year of restricted and only essential travel being possible, hosting an event was impossible, and our 2020 networking event was postponed to 2021. After a year, when the countries started opening up for travel, the Project Logistics Alliance HQ decided to go ahead and have the 4^th Annual Meeting in Dubai from 20 – 23 October 2021.

Initially, Tallinn was the preferred location but was later changed to Dubai, keeping in mind that Dubai was open for tourism and enjoyed more social mobility than the rest of the world. With over 97.6% of the population having received the first dose of the vaccine, Dubai made it the safest location to hold our AGM. 72 participants representing 37 different companies gathered together for two and half days of networking fiesta. The venue for this years meeting was W Dubai which provided our guests with fabulous views of both the city skyline and the Arabian Gulf.

While the official event started on the 20th evening, on the 19th, our Gold Sponsor, Fleet Line Shipping Services organizing a golf tournament for all the attendees followed by a dinner.On the 20^th evening, after a quick round of check-in and registrations, we welcomed all our participants at the chic SoBe rooftop bar at the W Dubai. This rooftop bar did not only equip our guests to break the ice in a casual setting but also provided them with Dubai's best 360° view. This evening was sponsored by our host sponsors, Abu Dhabi Ports. Guests were served a flying buffet along with drinks which allowed them to mingle. The next day, after all the delegates were welcomed by our CEO Mr Alexander Hellmers, all the members and partners geared for short speeches from our sponsors, Fleet Line Shipping Services, ISS Global Forwarding LLC and Alexander Global Logistics. All the meeting participants then gathered for a group picture, after which one to one meeting commenced. Instead of 20 – minute speed dating slots, we decided to increase this to a long 30 minutes. This gave our members enough time to wind up the conversation and exchange presentations. The delegates later gathered in the Lawn at the W Dubai to finish off the first day with family-style seating. A full moon and twinkling lights from the beautiful city skyline enabled all the delegates to wind down and enjoy each other's company.

Recharged with a fulfilling dinner, our delegates gathered early to kick – off the second day of networking. We wound up our meetings early on in the evening as our members and partners headed out to enjoy one of the best desert safaris in Dubai. An action-packed evening started off with an exciting dune drive where we were made aware of the local fauna, after which we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the dunes. After the sunset, we headed out to enjoy a regional BBQ dinner followed by an entertaining evening. On the last day, our members gathered for their final round of networking for the event, and we bid all the delegates adieu after a sumptuous lunch in the LIV.

By concluding this year's networking event, we are grateful and delighted by the trust our members and partners have shown us by coming out and attending the event. For us, face to face interactions are becoming exceedingly important in this era of digital meetings. Like the previous years, our aim with this Annual General Meeting was to create the best networking experience to foster professional relationships.

This meeting in Dubai would not have been possible without our sponsors and each and every delegate who participated in the event to make it a success! While we missed some of our members who couldn't travel, we remain optimistic about meeting them next year in Tallinn.