Finding the right overseas partner can make a significant difference to a freight forwarder’s ability to serve customers across international markets. But a company profile and a few emails can only tell you so much. Meeting a potential partner face-to-face gives you the opportunity to understand how they operate, what they specialise in and whether there is a genuine opportunity to work together. At Globalia’s 7th Annual Meeting, taking place from 26 to 28 October 2026 at the InterContinental Bangkok, members will have dedicated one-to-one meeting slots with freight forwarding professionals from around the world. The One-to-One Meeting Scheduler, which will open on 7th October for those agents who have applied and paid for Priority Access and 8th October for the rest of the agents, will allow delegates to choose the partners they want to connect with, so they can approach the event with a clear business-development strategy.
But securing a meeting is only the beginning. With limited time available for each conversation, knowing what to ask can help you quickly understand whether a potential partner is a good fit for your business.
7 Questions to Ask at Globalia’s 7th Annual Meeting
You don’t need to turn every meeting into an interrogation or work through a rigid list of questions. The best conversations will feel natural. Use these questions as a starting point and adapt them according to the company, market, and potential opportunity you are discussing.
1. Which trade lanes and markets are your strongest?
This is one of the most useful questions to ask early in the conversation because geographical coverage alone doesn’t necessarily tell you how strong a forwarder is in a particular market. A company may operate across several countries but have significantly more experience on certain routes. Ask about their main import and export markets, the origins and destinations they handle most frequently, and the regions where they have particularly strong customer relationships.
You can then compare this with your own business. For example, perhaps you regularly receive enquiries for shipments to Southeast Asia but don’t currently have a partner with strong local expertise in Thailand, Vietnam or Malaysia. Or perhaps your company has an established customer base shipping to Europe and you’re looking for partners who can provide reliable destination services. The objective is to identify complementary strengths, rather than simply collect another contact.
2. What types of cargo do you handle most frequently?
A potential partner may have excellent geographical coverage but limited experience with the type of cargo your customers regularly move. Ask what commodities and shipment types make up a significant part of their business. This could include general cargo, machinery, automotive parts, electronics, pharmaceuticals, perishables, dangerous goods, project cargo or other specialised shipments. It’s also worth asking about the modes they handle most frequently. A forwarder might have particularly strong expertise in air freight but relatively limited ocean freight operations, for example. Understanding these details helps you establish whether the company can support the kind of shipments you are likely to send them.
3. What services can you provide beyond freight forwarding?
International cooperation often becomes more valuable when partners can offer a broader range of local services. Ask about their capabilities beyond basic transportation. Do they provide customs clearance? Warehousing? Distribution? Cargo consolidation? Last-mile delivery? Cross-border trucking? Packaging? Cargo insurance assistance? Project logistics?
You should also ask whether these services are handled directly by their own team or through subcontractors. This doesn’t mean one model is automatically better than another. What matters is understanding how the operation works and whether it matches your expectations. For an independent freight forwarder, having a partner that can handle multiple stages of a shipment can make it easier to offer customers a complete logistics solution in markets where the company doesn’t have its own physical presence.
4. What kind of business are you looking to develop with network partners?
This question moves the conversation from what they do to what they actually want to achieve. A forwarder may already have several partners in your country, but perhaps they are looking for stronger cooperation on a particular trade lane. Another company may be actively seeking new agents because of growing demand from its customers. Ask what types of cooperation they are currently interested in.
Are they looking for more reciprocal shipments? Do they need a reliable destination agent? Are they interested in developing new trade lanes? Are there particular industries or customer segments they want to reach? Be equally open about your own objectives. If both sides understand what they are looking for, it becomes much easier to identify a genuine opportunity rather than ending the meeting with a vague promise to “stay in touch.”
5. How do you normally work with your overseas partners?
This is an important question because compatibility isn’t only about geography or services. Two companies can have complementary markets and still struggle to work together if their expectations around communication, quotations, documentation or operational responsibilities are very different.
Ask how they normally communicate with overseas agents and how quickly they respond to enquiries. You can also discuss how they handle quotations, shipment updates, documentation, exceptions and urgent situations.
If appropriate, ask how they approach issues such as credit terms and payment procedures as well. You don’t need to resolve every operational detail during a first meeting. The purpose is to understand how the company works and whether its approach is compatible with yours.
6. Can you give me an example of a shipment or project where your local expertise made a difference?
This is a particularly useful question because it encourages the other person to move beyond a standard company presentation. Rather than simply telling you that they have extensive experience, it gives them an opportunity to demonstrate it. Perhaps they handled a complicated customs clearance, found a solution during a capacity shortage, coordinated a time-sensitive air shipment or managed a challenging delivery to a remote destination.
You can learn a lot from these examples. Pay attention not only to the outcome but also to how they approached the problem. Did they communicate proactively? Did they offer alternatives? Did they coordinate several parties? Did they understand the customer’s priorities? These details can give you a better sense of how the company operates when a shipment doesn’t go exactly according to plan.
7. What would be the best first opportunity for us to work together?
Don’t let a promising conversation end with just an exchange of business cards. If you have identified potential compatibility, ask this question before the meeting finishes. Perhaps you already have an enquiry coming up for their market. Maybe they have customers requiring services in your country. Perhaps you could exchange rate requests, introduce your operations teams or explore a particular trade lane. The first step doesn’t have to be a major shipment. In fact, starting with a straightforward shipment can be a useful way for both companies to understand how the other operates. The important thing is to leave the meeting with something concrete to follow up on.
Make the Most of Your Meetings in Bangkok
The value of Globalia’s 7th Annual Meeting will not simply come from the number of people you meet. It will come from identifying the people and companies with whom there is a genuine opportunity to cooperate. That’s why preparation before the event matters. Globalia recommends that delegates research the companies they want to meet, understand why they are having each meeting and decide what they want to learn from each potential partner. Members are also encouraged to prepare information about their own services, operating areas and company statistics.
Before you arrive in Bangkok, look through the profiles of the companies you have selected. Make a short note beside each one: Why do I want to meet them? What can they offer us? What can we offer them? Then use your meeting time to find the answers. It’s also worth remembering that not every valuable conversation needs to happen during a scheduled one-to-one session. The Annual Meeting includes coffee breaks, lunches, the Welcome Cocktail Reception and Gala Dinner, creating additional opportunities to get to know fellow members outside the formal meeting structure.
These informal conversations can be particularly useful for building the personal trust that often becomes the foundation of long-term cooperation between independent freight forwarders.
From a Conversation to a Partnership
The real test comes after the event. If you identify a promising partner at Globalia’s 7th Annual Meeting, don’t wait until weeks later to follow up. Send the information you discussed, introduce the relevant members of your operations team and, where possible, start with a specific business opportunity.
Maybe that means sending a quotation request. Maybe it means discussing an upcoming shipment or exchanging information about your respective markets. Whatever the next step is, agree on it before you leave Bangkok. A successful international partnership rarely develops from one conversation alone. It grows through small interactions: the first enquiry, the first shipment, the first problem resolved together and the first customer successfully served.
That is why the questions you ask in Bangkok matter. They can help you move beyond introductions and discover whether the person sitting across the table could become a valuable partner for your business. And when the right conversation happens, the opportunity doesn’t end when the meeting does. Globalia’s 7th Annual Meeting can simply be where the partnership begins.