DHL boosts South Asia trade with enhanced express services
DHL has enhanced its services within the South Asia/SAARC region with new air and ground express products designed to support trade between the neighbouring countries.
The new products are the expansion of the Blue Dart ‘Road Express’ service to Bangladesh and the introduction of the premium guaranteed money-back service ‘Express 10:30’ in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) covers India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.
Launched by Blue Dart last autumn as a domestic service within India, ‘Road Express’ is now offered exclusively on the India – Bangladesh trade lane and was used during the Cricket Tri – Series, where broadcasting equipment was transported to both Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Separately, DHL also recently launched ‘Express 10:30’ to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh ensuring shipment delivery to customers before 10:30 a.m.
These unique packages allow customers to choose the destination, mode of delivery and delivery date with products like Express Worldwide DOC and Express Worldwide NDOC. These products offer better cost management and are beneficial to customers who are looking at expanding into newer markets, DHL India said.
Malcolm Monteiro, Senior Vice President & Area Director – South Asia, DHL said: “As a trade facilitator and a leader in the logistics business, we believe in the business potential within the SAARC region. With increasing logistics spends, it is only prudent that trade lanes be further developed.”
“India, with an annual trade growth rate of nearly 22 pct in the SAARC region exceeds the world growth rate which grew 18.6 pct during FY01-FY05. This underscores India’s potential to be a significant player in the region”, he added.
During the last few years, DHL Express has made substantial investments of over $300 million towards the development and upgrading of its network infrastructure in India, including five gateways in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata and over 150 retail outlets. In addition, a state-of-the-art Quality Control Centre and large shipment-processing areas aim at providing seamless express and logistics service solutions to Indian exporters.
