CEO of Galata International Freight Forwarding & Logistics Vittorio Zagaia

Galata International Freight Forwarding & Logistics Inc.. is the first freight forwarding and logistics services company established in Istanbul in 1997 with direct foreign capital, with 50 % participation of Albini & Pitiglinai Spa (Alpi World), founded in 1945, one of Italy’s highly reputated international transportation and logistics companies. Today, 24 years later, with over 200 employees working, Galata has an annual cargo handling capacity of over 100 thousand shipments in the international road, air, ocean freight, intermodal transport and value-added logistics services. Nominated “Great Place to Work in Turkey” respectively in 2019 and 2020 and best workplaces for women in Türkiye in 2021 by the indipendent research institute Great Place To Work International, our company has also taken its place in the “Türkiye’s top 500 service exporters” list of the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly. Having certified its efforts for the sustainability and quality of the services offered with ISO certificates, the company is also the first international transportation company in the industry to have the TSE certificate.

WE ARE EXPANDING OUR COVERAGE IN TÜRKİYE

As Galata, we have been focusing on domestic logistics services (warehousing, value-added services, distribution) for the last few years, and we provide services to our customers from many different industries, especially the retail sector, through our own fleet consisting of different types of vehicles along with the investments we made in our warehouses in Istanbul and Bursa. Furthermore, we continue to expand our coverage in Türkiye by adding new ones to our Istanbul airport office, Bursa and İzmir branch offices, Antalya, Ankara, and Mersin representative offices, in addition to our head office and logistics center in Istanbul.

WE ARE TAKING STEPS TO MAINTAIN OUR GROWTH IN THE NORTH AFRICA

We made our first investment abroad by purchasing 50 % of a company in Tunisia. We are taking steps to continue on this with the North African countries in the first place and to grow by strengthening our presence in this continent. Another important initiative that we are currently focusing on is to increase our intermodal equipment park and gain reputation also in this mode of transportation that is a very efficient solution not only being an eco-friendly but economical transport system. In addition, we continue to serve many different industries by means of very wide coverage in the road, air, and ocean freight. Our overall strenght is to understand the requirements in both import and correctly and coming up with proper solutions accordingly.

Place To Work International, our company has also taken its place in the “Türkiye’s top 500 service exporters” list of the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly. Having certified its efforts for the sustainability and quality of the services offered with ISO certificates, the company is also the first international transportation company in the industry to have the TSE certificate.

WE ARE EXPANDING OUR COVERAGE IN TÜRKİYE

As Galata, we have been focusing on domestic logistics services (warehousing, value-added services, distribution) for the last few years, and we provide services to our customers from many different industries, especially the retail sector, through our own fleet consisting of different types of vehicles along with the investments we made in our warehouses in Istanbul and Bursa. Furthermore, we continue to expand our coverage in Turkey by adding new ones to our Istanbul airport office, Bursa and İzmir branch offices, Antalya, Ankara, and Mersin representative offices, in addition to our head office and logistics center in Istanbul.

WE ARE TAKING STEPS TO MAINTAIN OUR GROWTH IN THE NORTH AFRICA

We made our first investment abroad by purchasing 50 % of a company in Tunisia. We are taking steps to continue on this with the North African countries in the first place and to grow by strengthening our presence in this continent. Another important initiative that we are currently focusing on is to increase our intermodal equipment park and gain reputation also in this mode of transportation that is a very efficient solution not only being an eco-friendly but economical transport system. In addition, we continue to serve many different industries by means of very wide coverage in the road, air, and ocean freight. Our overall strenght is to understand the requirements in both import and correctly and coming up with proper solutions accordingly.

OUR PRINCIPLES BROUGHT ALONG SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

There are three basic principles that our company has not compromised since the day it was founded: setting realistic and achievable targets every year and spreading growth throughout the process, always preserving the environment where employees are happy, and finally, being known as a reliable company of high standing. These principles have brought along stable and sustainable growth in terms of both turnover and employment.

We are steering through 2021 in line with our targets; we have always been a conservative structure and aimed to grow with firm steps by always setting realistic targets. We manage our activities within the targets we set by following the world and our country, in line with our management team about where we can achieve a growth trend. While focusing on domestic logistics and intermodal transportation, we are also in a process of maintaining our current position in other modes of transportation. Increasing the number of our offices in Türkiye and expanding our coverage area are at the forefront of our growth strategies. In addition, we also want to continue to grow in the African continent through partnerships or acquisitions, as we did in Tunisia.

OUR TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION ENABLED US TO MANAGE THE PANDEMIC IN A SUSTAINABLE WAY

The technological transformation and digitalization that we started a few years ago in Galata played a key role in our capability of managing the pandemic period in a sustainable way.

We have switched right away with the beginning of the pandemic to work from home and we still maintain this working system. In terms of our sector, we think that companies that do not adapt or that resist the fact that we will use the technology that will permanently enter our lives at every level will get over this period much more difficult.

The fact that we will experience 3 times more of the technology that has entered our lives in the last 10 years in a few years requires every company to pay extreme attention to this issue. We will continue to improve the digitalization that we started in a sustainable way and this will enable us to manage our services and operational processes at the highest level.