DHL plans huge investment in Japan and South Korea
DHL plans to invest more than 90 million dollars in the next several years into Japan to strengthen its leading position there, Deutsche Post Chairman Klaus Zumwinkel said Tuesday.
Among its plans is the expansion of its distribution centre at Osaka’s Kansai Airport, Zumwinkel said in Tokyo on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of DHL’s entry into Japan.
From 1999 to 2006, DHL invested about 165 million dollars in expanding its infrastructure in Japan, the world’s second-largest economy. From 2001 to 2006, it invested more than 1.7 billion dollars across the Asia-Pacific region.
DHL said it plans to invest up to 75 mln usd over the next few years to expand its South Korean operations.
The additional funding commitment will take its total investments in the nation to close to 100 mln usd since 2001, it said. ‘DHL’s growth plans and investments for the Korean market are very much in line with the South Korean government’s vision of establishing Incheon as a preferred logistics hub to serve the North Asia region,’ Klaus Zumwinkel, chairman of the board of Deutsche Post World Net, DHL’s parent company, said.
The investment, which includes the 50 mln usd already announced in Nov 2006, will be used to expand the current DHL Express facility at Incheon Airport, the company said. Under plans being reviewed by the government, DHL said it will be relocating to a state-of-the-art airside facility adjacent to the foreign carriers’ terminal.
The new facility will have the capacity to handle approximately 500 tonnes of cargo per day, and will triple the sorting rate for goods to 8,000 items per hour, up from the current 2,500 per hour.
The additional funds will also be used to develop existing network infrastructure and further enhance operational and service capabilities, in a bid to meet projected growth in intraAsia trade as well as trade within the Far East region, via Incheon, the company said. DHL operates in 78 locations across South Korea with more than 110,000 square meters of warehouse space and 1,500 employees.
