The international Chronopost Company inaugurated Monday July 4, 2005 a new agency in Marrakech. The inauguration of the new agency was held in the presence of local authorities and representatives of Barid Al the Maghreb, as well as the chairman and Director of Development Africa Gilles Moutel and a number of high ranking officials from Chronopost.
Read MoreDeutsche Post World Net AG is targeting cost-cuts ahead of the loss of its monopoly at the end of 2007 by outsourcing some services and employees and possibly passing on some costs to corporate clients, chief executive Klaus Zumwinkel told Sueddeutsche Zeiutng in an interview to be published tomorrow.
‘If we should notably lose sales, then at least we can react on the cost side,’ Zumwinkel said, adding the company may for instance cut down on quantity discounts for corporate clients. But he said the logistics giant is currently more concerned about competition from electronic communication than from other companies. Zumwinkel also called upon other EU member states to liberalise their postal markets to create a level playing field within the region. ‘Deutsche Post could even live with being exposed to competition two or three years earlier than other postal companies’ as long as it is clear that other countries have plans to liberalise the logistics market, he said.
United Parcel Service Inc has signed a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Airport Group for the establishment of a cargo hub in Pudong International Airport. The planned cargo hub, to be put up by 2007, is part of the package-delivery firm’s USD500m expansion in China. Rivals FedEx Corp and DHL are expected to counter the UPS effort in China.
Read MoreThe US direct marketing industry has welcomed senators’ stamp of approval on moves to modernise the postal service. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs last week passed the Postal Accountability & Enhancement Act of 2005, designed to safeguard the commercial viability of the US Postal Service (USPS). It is the largest service in the world, with more than 9 million employees. The legislation requires the USPS to establish a set of service standards for market-dominating products, and report annually to Congress on its progress. It introduces safeguards against unfair competition.
The Bill will also allow the Postal Regulatory Commission to review proposed rate changes before they are implemented.
The opening of DHL’s Suva freight centre and headquarters in Raiwaqa last Wednesday marked its consistent growth in the Pacific market for the last five years. The relocation of its Suva headquarters has now put the company in a strong position to consolidate and add new dimension to its courier and distribution services. After being holed up in a converted residential lot for more than ten years, DHL Pacific has begun its one stop shop strategy for what it terms as a growing Pacific and Oceania courier and distribution market. The multi purpose facility at Raiwaqa is targeted by DHL to help increase freight traffic between Fiji and the Pacific. DHL Oceania director Gary Edstein said this marks an important step forward in DHL’s long-term regional growth strategy, which had been recording double digit growth for the last five years.
Read MoreThe Postal Services Commission (Postcomm) has awarded a three-year public affairs and PR contract to Grayling Political Strategy as it prepares to open up the pounds 5bn letters market to full-blown competition.
Grayling will support the postal regulator’s in-house PR team in communicating the reforms to businesses, consumers and politicians. According to the tender document, it will be expected to provide ‘hands-on support in the face of a hostile media storm’.
Read MoreUnited Parcel Service is to launch its first package delivery service within China, pitting the US company against German-owned DHL in a battle for the Chinese domestic market. UPS said it would offer next-day deliveries between 23 Chinese metropolitan areas by September and planned to expand the network in future. Until now, UPS offered only international shipments in and out of China. DHL, a unit of Deutsche Post, was previously the only foreign company providing domestic package delivery. The new service represents a widening of UPS’s ambitions in China from its previous focus on imports and exports. “We intend to have the most extensive package delivery and logistics offering to, from and within China,” said David Abney, president of UPS’s international operations.
Read MoreChina will split its post authority, or China Post, into two parts in a bid to separate enterprises from government administration, Friday’s Oriental Morning Post reported. Under a plan submitted by the State Post Bureau (SPB) to the State Council, or the Chinese cabinet, China Post will be broken into the China Post Group and the Post Administration. “This was the goal of the ongoing postal system reform, which has been brewing for about seven years, ” said Xia Liqun, head of SPB’s information center. If the plan is approved, most staffs of post offices across China will become enterprise employees and the existing SPB will be replaced by the Post Administration with about 1,000 officials.
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