ICAO Secretary General, Dr. Fang Liu, highlighted today that nearly 90 percent of business-to-consumer (B2C) global e-commerce transactions are delivered by air, and that commercial aircraft are the only shipping mode available which can satisfy the expectations of modern consumers for many same-day or next-day deliveries.
Dr. Liu’s points were made during her comprehensive keynote remarks to the high-level audience of public- and private-sector officials gathered in Beijing for the World Customs Organization’s (WCO’s) First Global Conference on Cross-Border E-Commerce.
Dr. Liu further alluded to the revolution now taking place as aviation integrates new unmanned aircraft, both large and small, into the global airspace.
Dr. Liu added that the overall preparedness of countries and regions, whether in terms of levels of ICAO compliance or their infrastructure capacity and airport multimodal connectivity would play a key factor in their ability to leverage growing e-commerce operations to their full economic benefit.
“This explains why governments must have comprehensive aviation and airport development planning in place, and how important it is for those air transport priorities to be strategically integrated into States’ overall national and urban development objectives,” she said.
While in Beijing, Dr. Liu had the opportunity to conduct a series of meetings with WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya, the Director General of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Mr. Bishar Hussein, World Trade Organization (WTO) Deputy Director General Mr. Yi Xiaozhun, and Alibaba Group Executive Chairman Mr. Jack Ma.
