Singapore regional office for DHL to serve fastest growing market

DHL, the package and express delivery company owned by Deutsche Post World Net AG, said it has inaugurated its Asia Pacific regional office in Singapore to serve the company’s fastest growing market.

The office brings together the regional offices of DHL Express and DHL Danzas Air & Ocean, following the global integration of the two companies last year, it said.

‘As part of the global integration of DHL Express and DHL Danzas Air & Ocean, the two companies are co-locating their regional management staff in Singapore in a bid to create better synergies, as we have done in Hong Kong,’ DHL Express CEO Uwe Doerken said.

The office also houses the company’s new Asia Pacific Quality Control Center (APQCC), which serves as the nerve center for all DHL Asia Pacific shipment movement control, the company said.

DHL Express’ Asia Pacific operations, including Singapore, grew its volumes in the ‘strong double digits’ in 2003, and it expects business in the region to continue growing, Doerken said.

He added that DHL has invested 300 mln usd in infrastructure projects in Asia Pacific since 2000, including 10 mln usd for its Southeast Asia logistics hub and services center in Singapore.

‘The new Singapore regional office and the APQCC are a reflection of our long-term commitment to Singapore and the wider Asia-Pacific region, which is the fastest growing market for DHL,’ Doerken said.

Asked if the company plans to move parts of its operations in Singapore to lower cost countries in the region, as other multi-national corporations have done in recent years, the CEO of DHL Express’ Asia Pacific operations, Jon Mullen, said, ‘No, we don’t have plans to do that.’

‘We’re constantly reviewing all our functions. That’s going on all the time. But we’re not looking to move a big chunk of our employees out of the city,’ Mullen said.