Information you can trust. Welcome to F&L, where senior freight logistics leaders & their teams shape their own international strategies through confidential, invitation-only roundtable peer & expert exchange, enabling them to implement a more effective response to market changes.
Agenda: Collaboration by necessity in disruptive times. Regulatory & economic environment / competitiveness. Ports & hubs as critical energy, industrial and defence partners. Meet the policymakers.
Meeting date: 22-23 April 2026 (networking gala dinner 22 April).
Location: Ghent & Antwerp.
What to expect: Leaders’ round-table discussion agenda, community-led, <140 participants, no sales pitches. F&L is a neutral (independent), non-lobby members’ forum.
Costs: €450 card/ €500 payment by invoice + relevant VAT. These discounted rates apply to F&L members: non-member companies pay €2,000 + VAT.
Help? Get in touch.
This event is hosted by North Sea Port & Port of Antwerp-Bruges, and other key partners are shown below.
Industry leaders & policymakers discuss how, given the challenging global trading backdrop, freight logistics operations are – by necessity – adapting and collaborating to add value. Allied to this is the European Commission’s ambitions for the freight logistics sector and for increasing European competitiveness and harmonising Europe-wide regulations, infrastructure and investment. We focus on business competitiveness, understanding the changing regulatory background, the role logistics is playing to enhance European defence and what industry leaders want each other to know to be able to make better, more informed, more robust decisions.
F&L competition law & antitrust compliance policies.
International arrivals Antwerp
Location: North Sea Port, Ghent [see ‘Venues’ tab for details]
09:00 coffee & registration, commentary on global trading blocs / market conditions [Visitor Centre, North Sea Port]
09:45 boarding Ship Denique II, opening & welcome from Alderman of City of Ghent
Buffeted by a shifting international order, global supply chain models are changing including the emergence of E2E players and the requirement for logistics asset ownership or access. Heightened debate over European competitiveness adds to uncertainty. How do each of us establish value within increasingly complex supply chains and collaborative ecosystems? Are logistics hubs at the forefront of change?
What’s coming? Regulations, trading environment & European competitiveness
Lunch
Freight logistics in a changing world – defence. The potential need for movement of defence sector assets brings intra-Europe logistics bottlenecks to the forefront.
Criteria and actions for value added positioning against global backdrop & European competitiveness
16:30 disembark & transfer to Antwerp
19:00 Gala reception evening programme, Port of Antwerp-Bruges
Location: Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Port House, Antwerp
09:00 Are we ready? Conclusions Day 1 & aims for Day 2
Solutions: dare to be different – frontrunners’ perspectives. CMB-Tech CEO, PoAB Chief Business Development & Transition Officer, others tbc moderated by Flemish Port Commissioner
Planning for solutions: choice of deep-dive breakout
Lunch & behind the scenes visits
15:30 Close
North Sea Port combines the Dutch ports of Vlissingen and Terneuzen with the Belgian port of Ghent. A significant logistics hub for bulk flows & known for its multimodal connections, it is a centre for energy transition and serves diverse industries including chemicals, steel, and automotive.
The Port of Antwerp-Bruges is a crucial, large, and accessible seaport within 500km of 60% of Europe’s purchasing power and providing natural deep-water access for large ships to sail inland, 80km from the sea along The Scheldt estuary (56% container traffic in 2025). PoAB also hosts Europe’s largest integrated chemical cluster.
This meeting is for senior business leaders & their teams; people who are actively leading industry today.
Participants will be shown in due course. In the meantime, participants from recent meetings below – click on the ‘attendee’ tabs.
Participant list for F&L at Nike (Oct 2025)
Participant list for Poland (Apr 2025)
Participant list for Zaragoza Spain (Oct 2024)
This is a two-centre Meeting. F&L hotel(s) reserved in Antwerp & we will take the short distance between Antwerp and Ghent by train. Plenty parking both in Ghent and at the various hotels in Antwerp for those who prefer own transport.
Wed 22 April
Thurs 23 April
Discounted sleeping hotels A mix of discounted sleeping hotels reserved in Antwerp for nights of Tues 21 & Wed 22 April 2026. Discount codes are in the registration confirmation email.
General businesswear.
Welcome; please get in touch.
F&L is a unique business network for commercial senior freight logistics practitioners & their teams to shape their own international strategies through confidential, invitation-only roundtable peer & expert exchange, enabling them to choose more effective responses to market forces. Established 1994.
Mission – F&L has a single purpose: to exploit knowledge, skills and collaborative opportunities across the freight logistics sector to drive improved standards, learnings & the success of Members of the community.
How is this achieved? F&L is structured as a neutral (independent), not-for-profit, non-lobby, confidential, antitrust compliant Members’ forum and is registered in Belgium as an ASBL. Multi-stakeholder membership is deliberately balanced to ensure a variety of perspectives across a host of variables.
Members are global / regional heads of logistics & supply chain, CEOs & senior management focused on freight logistics across the supply chain, asset owners, founders of critical solutions, all industry sectors and transport modes, based across Europe & globally (list).
“The important thing is to avoid the ‘narrow’ trap & the echo chamber”
“Access to informed external views & sheer breadth which it is not possible to organise by yourself”
“Where else can you ask questions openly and listen to others doing the same?”
“Learn, benchmark & challenge”
“We make better, more informed, more robust decisions”