DHL worldwide invests $15M in Philippines
DHL Worldwide Express, one of world’s leading air express service firms, has invested a total of $15 million for expansion in the Philippines through a partnership with the Feliciano Group.
In an interview with BusinessWorld yesterday, DHL International Pte Ltd. area director for Southeast Asia Bryan Jamison said the investments will make DHL Philippines at par with other established DHL networks in countries like Europe and the US.
Mr. Jamison added that the Philippines is expected to fall on the top five largest operations of the foreign firm in Southeast Asia in the coming years now that global markets are starting to recover.
“We’re always looking at business on a long term and not short-term basis. Globalization is really starting to take place now and we’ve got customers who are looking for a consistent level of service and obviously in the Philippines there are a number of global players who are operating here, or maybe just supplying or working with SMEs, they require an excellent level of service. So that’s one of the major reasons why we made these investments,” he said.
The DHL official said the fresh funds were primarily used for expansion through the setup of service centers and the Philippine headquarters as well as for the purchase of new vehicles and technology.
He said the latest technologies DHL Worldwide is using abroad were brought to the Philippines including next-generation courier scanners, imaging, state-of-the-art security systems, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), among others.
The new joint-venture firm, DHL Worldwide Express (Phils.) Corp., has put up six service centers located in various areas like Makati; Ortigas, Pasig; Calabarzon area; and Cebu. It has a fleet of over 130 service vehicles and work force of 450.
“That’s initial investments which were used to get ourselves very very quickly established. Traditionally, we invest every year approximately between 8% and 10% of turnover so we have an ongoing capital commitment. And that is what we will continue to do on an ongoing basis here in the Philippines. We basically recruited a brand- new team. Basically all of the systems, the facilities, and the people are all brand new,” he said.
Mr. Jamison said the entry of DHL Worldwide in the country would double the local business in five years’ time when it also expects to gain majority control of the joint venture. Copyright 2002 BusinessWorld (Philippines).
