DHL is on the move regionally

“Vietnam’s market is getting bigger and bigger. We’re excited to come to exciting markets,” said Ken Allen, CEO of DHL Express in Ho Chi Minh City last week.

“On July 12 we opened our biggest express hub in Asia – the $175 million DHL Express North Asia Hub at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport in China. DHL also has plans to further invest $132 million to add eight dedicated aircraft to service high demand routes between Shanghai and North Asia, Europe and the United States by 201.”

Allen quoted Dr. Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL that owns DHL, as saying that with Asia fast integrating and free trade agreements reducing barriers to international commerce, “logistics companies need capabilities that are ahead of the curve and offer simplicity, speed and service.”
DHL in March launched a new, additional round-the-world flight connecting Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Leipzig to service key trade lanes between Asia and the west coast of the US and Canada.

Christopher Ong, country manager for DHL Express in Vietnam, said the new flight extended the company’s global network to further offer services to its Vietnam-based customers. “The connections from Hong Kong open superior access to key trade lanes to Europe, the United States and Canada, providing our customers with reduced transit times and wider reach for their products.”

Ong said DHL had invested $20 million in Vietnam in the last five years and the firm is committed to expanding its presence in the country as well as increase service offering to meet customer demands. It plans to further invest in infrastructure, training and services to meet the increasing demands of  customers in Vietnam, especially from the local small -and -medium sized sector. The firm is determined to continue to lead the express industry in Vietnam as part of DHL’s vision to make it a global trade facilitator, said Ong.

Asked about the Vietnamese business climate, he said: “The Vietnamese government has done a lot to support our business here. The government is aware of the important role the express industry plays in trade.  The offices of express firms are already grouped into Tan Son Nhat Express Cargo Services hub by Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. All customs clearance work is done here and it’s quite convenient.”

The hub is shortly called as TECS with customers including DHL Express, FedEx, UPS and TNT Express. DHL Express began operating in Vietnam in 1988, starting with an agency agreement with the VNPT Group and later with the DHL-VNPT joint venture. DHL now provides almost 80 flights in the domestic market and 64 international flights every week.

The company early this year launched new direct flight services between Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong to connect inbound and outbound shipments to Vietnam.