DHL has opened two new express centres in Vietnam, both located in coastal port cities, to improveits express services and expand its presence in the country’s growing express and logistics market,
the local news agency VietnamNet reported.The new investment is part of the US$14 million investment programme that DHL Expressannounced in November last year to strengthen its network in Vietnam.
The first opened facility is located in Hai Phong, a major port city in the north of Vietnam.This has become an economically important region with expected cargo volumes of 300 million tons in2008, a 27% rise on last year. Hai Phong is now focusing on logistics services.
The second express centre was opened in Vung Tau, another important port city in southernVietnam, increasingly attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) with $9.3 billion.
“With the new investment under our joint venture, we are able to provide faster transit timesfor our customers in Vietnam and offer expanded connectivity to DHL’s global network of over 220countries and territories,” said Tim Baxter, general manager of DHL-VNPT Express Ltd.
Baxter added that DHL remained confident about Vietnam despite the difficult times theworld’s economy is facing. “We still obtained growth exceeding 20% for the year,” he said. “Despitethe current world conditions, our forecasts for 2009 are optimistic.”
One year ago, DHL opened a similar centre in Danang and this facility had proven to be a verysuccessful move, Baxter said. He added that even though the situation on the world market affectedDHL everywhere, the company posted a record year in Vietnam last year.
