The third panel at Forbes Business Bridges 2025 explored one of the defining challenges — and opportunities — of the global economy: the transformation of production and logistics systems in a world shaped by technology, sustainability, and shifting geopolitics.
ANCA DAMOUR – CEO & Partner DCraig Real Estate and Executive Board Member ELI Parks
I believe the era of a single, monolithic supply chain is over. We’re moving to a multi-local network with shorter, smarter routes that balance cost, risk, speed, and sustainability. For me, Romania is shifting from periphery to platform. There are three main reasons: First, borders and frictions are down, and flows are up. As of January 1, 2025, we fully joined the Schengen Area.
It’s not only air and sea borders, but land as well. This matters for trucks and people, and it helps us plan with more certainty. Second, hard infrastructure in Romania is finally visible: we’ve nearly completed half of the ring roads crossing Bucharest—one of our platforms is just 500 meters from one of them. The A7 motorway is also well advanced, allowing trucks to move faster and expanding our same-day delivery radius.
Third, deep-water access is scaling. As you may know, DP World has launched a €130 million program in Constanța to double container capacity. This adds a new terminal and logistics hub, plugging sea production into the Black Sea trade lane. Simply put, Romania sits at the intersection of European demand, direct sea trading, and the broader reshoring/nearshoring trend across sea and air routes.
Even with short-term cargo volatility in 2025, the capacity and connectivity trend line is, I would say, positive.
NUNZIO DE FILIPPIS – Co-CEO CargoTrans Licensed Customs Broker
Well, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for having me. It looks like I’ll be a new client of Alma, because I’m dealing with tariffs, right? Tariffs are probably one of the most headline-making words we’ve seen in the past few months—whether you want to know what they are or not. As a licensed customs broker, I’m the one who delivers the bad news, because I have to prepare the tariff bill.
On a previous panel, someone said that to enter the U.S. market you need a good attorney, a good accountant, and a good lobbyist. I’d add: you also need a good licensed customs broker. Our role has completely changed under the new administration. As has been said, it’s now an “America First” policy. In fact, the administration has basically said we’re moving from free trade to fair trade. And we’ve all seen their definition of “fair trade”: every single day, tariffs go up and down. So many businesses that are successful in the EU—in Romania—look at this and, understandably, hesitate. You’re on the sidelines, wondering: does it make sense to make this investment?
I’m here to say: yes, there are still opportunities. That’s true of any challenge we face. These tariffs are a new challenge—not a barrier. There are ways to navigate them, and that’s exactly what a good licensed customs broker should do. Our profession changed pretty much overnight. Before tariffs, no one even knew we existed—I certainly wouldn’t have been on this stage. I’m here today because there are opportunities, and we help companies meet them. We can’t make tariffs go away, and our strategies are always compliance-first, but it’s about being creative. In any challenge, creativity rises to the top.
The businesses and investors who partner with creative advisors will win. That’s what a good licensed customs broker does: we don’t panic about the next post the president might make or the next tariff coming—we ask, “How do we navigate this?” There’s a lot of uncertainty, but that’s what we’re here for.
BJORN BENGTSSON – Chief Product and Supply Chain Officer Untuckit LLC
It’s virtually impossible to keep your supply chain reactive and responsive to everything that’s going on. I’ll speak for the apparel business: we don’t have many choices right now. The United States is highly dependent on Southeast Asia, and most of those countries carry tariffs. In fashion, people have started taking action—looking for new markets and diversifying—but it’s largely opportunistic sourcing, forced by razor-thin margins when working with suppliers in Southeast Asia. For much of the fashion industry, we’re taking it on the chin. We’re going to see some hefty tariff bills this year, and the broader economy isn’t exactly stable.
Even though our business has been good, we’re all sitting on pins and needles because it feels like something ugly might be around the corner. Fashion e-commerce, in particular, is heavily dependent on November and December—our biggest revenue months. We don’t want to touch price points yet, but I do anticipate that as we move into 2026, prices will start to rise. One way or another, we have to offset these enormous costs. Beyond that, we don’t have many options to maneuver. Moving an entire supply chain is…well, if you’re not in fashion, you might not realize how complex it is. I’ve been in fashion a long time.
These supply chains are extremely complex: multiple components, materials, trims, linings—everything that goes into a garment has to come together at the same time, in the same place. Factories constantly switch components and product lines—one week they might be making dresses for Zara, the next week blouses for Banana Republic, etc. For a brand like UNTUCKit to stand up a brand-new supply chain, it’s almost not worth the time. No one knows what 2028 will look like. Will there be a new president? Will we have to change everything back again? Standing up a new supply chain takes at least two years, and I don’t think many fashion companies are willing to endure that only to see the policy landscape flip again a few years later.
As for the companies that are doing it—take Apple as an example—the only reason to move production to the United States is to placate the administration or qualify for government incentives. There’s no way they’d shift otherwise. Apple has said themselves: they’re fundamentally Southeast-Asia-bound and tightly integrated with suppliers there. They’ve started moving a bit into India, but their manufacturing structure remains deeply rooted in Southeast Asia.