Ocean Network Express (ONE) noted the importance of being adaptable and agile in the current unpredictable and constantly evolving market environment.
At the fourth Container Shipping Summit in Hong Kong on March 26, 2025, Ocean Network Express (ONE), one of the world's leading container shipping companies, emphasized the growing challenges of predicting the future amid unpredictable factors and changes in the industry and noted that sharing diverse perspectives with like-minded stakeholders could offer valuable insights for envisioning better future scenarios.
[Source: ONE]
"ONE is formulating and steadily implementing growth strategies from short-term and medium-term perspectives. However, looking ahead to 2050 and beyond, the environment will be affected by unpredictable factors and changes, which are difficult to anticipate at present," said Yasuki Iwai, global chief officer - head of corporate and innovation of ONE, during the summit.
The Container Shipping Summit—initiated by ONE—brought together academic leaders in Asia to discuss diverse challenges, encourage industry-academia collaboration to drive change and innovation toward a sustainable future, and seek practical approaches to the pressing challenges facing the container shipping industry.
"Through this Summit, we exchanged diverse opinions with academic experts, which can help us to formulate a long-term strategy and enhance collaboration with our stakeholders and partners to envision a better future scenario," he added.
During the summit, participants discussed the sustainable development of the industry for 2050 and the future of the world. Various topics, including the changing global trade patterns, AI, generational value shifts, and sustainability, were addressed, emphasizing the need for industry adaptability.
The announcement said that during the discussion about developing next-generation maritime leaders from Asia, participants predicted a shift in workforce requirements from knowledge retention toward mindset, adaptability, and digital fluency. They also anticipated enhanced industry-academic collaborations through internships, mentorship, and rotation programs.
Louis Tang, regional head of ONE East Asia, stated that the summit's insights will assist the company in developing its future strategies. He emphasized a strong commitment to driving the industry's transition to sustainable shipping through a forward-looking approach, adopting agile best practices, and fostering open collaboration.
"It is difficult to predict the future in a fast-changing world. Moving forward, it's important to be lean and agile in dealing with unpredictable changes, and we need to continue challenging ourselves to improve and grow as ONE," he told the summit.
"The valuable insights we gained from the Summit will help ONE facilitate its formulation of future strategy plans," he added.
Meanwhile, Amy Chan Yuen Man, JP, deputy secretary for Transport and Logistics, Transport and Logistics Bureau of HKSAR Government, said the Hong Kong government is also committed to actively enhancing the long-term competitiveness of Hong Kong's maritime and port industry.
"We hope that the Container Shipping Summit will offer a great avenue for both local and foreign industry stakeholders to build new connections while exploring what Hong Kong has to offer to the maritime industry," she said.
ONE, headquartered in Singapore, operates a fleet of over 240 vessels with a capacity exceeding 1.9 million TEUs and provides container shipping services to over 120 countries.
