Tag: Asia

The Reserve Bank of India brake on Western Union growth

Posted by | Sep 20, 2007 | |

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked international money transfer agent Western Union Co. Ltd to stop expanding its network in India till it receives “further instructions” from the central bank, which also doubles up as the regulator of the banking and foreign exchange business. The company operates in India through a network of principal agents and sub-agents.

A government official, who did not wish to be identified, said the central bank found that Western Union Services India Pvt. Ltd (Wusi) was deviating from what it is actually allowed to do in India. The official declined to specify what these activities were.

In a letter dated 5 September, a copy of which is available with Mint, RBI has prohibited “Indian agents of Western Union Financial Services Inc., USA/Western Union Network (Ireland) Ltd” from expanding their wire transfer business in India through sub-agents. The letter does not mention any violations of service terms, and adds that “MTSS (money transfer service scheme) guidelines are being comprehensively reviewed in consultation with the government”, and that the bank expected to be able to issue the revised guidelines “shortly”.

But the letter adds that “any breach of these instructions” on not expanding the network “will be viewed seriously and render (the) agency permission liable for cancellation.”

A Wusi executive confirmed that RBI sent a letter but not to the company. “Some of our sub-agents have received the letter, not us,” said the executive, who did not wish to be identified. Wusi has 11 principal agents in the country, who have appointed sub-agents. The official said Wusi will not be directly liable for the functioning of sub-agents, who run over 45,000 outlets in India.

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Post Parcels Reach Single Day Record High

Posted by | Sep 19, 2007 | |

The number of parcels sent by post on Monday totaled 1.2 million, setting a new single day record in Korea’s 123-year postal history, Korea Post said on Tuesday.

The figure is four times higher than the average number of parcels usually sent per day. It is also an increase of 25 percent from the 960,000 parcels sent on last year’s Chuseok holidays and up 14 percent from the 1.05 million sent on Lunar New Year’s Day.

The number of parcels registered in post offices reached 5.2 million between Sept. 10 to 17 (except Sunday), the first seven days of the special Chuseok postal delivery period of Sept. 10 to 23. That’s an increase of 37 percent from the 3.8 million parcels registered over the same period last year.

Korea Post said the number of fresh product parcels for families in provincial areas is growing ahead of the holidays. The postal service is now using a special task force to deal with the growing number of letters and parcels at its headquarters, eight provincial service centers, and post offices across the nation.

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DHL increases capacity for Hong Kong-Beijing service to meet growing trade volume

Posted by | Sep 19, 2007 | |

DHL has further enhanced its overnight service between Hong Kong and Beijing, by increasing its dedicated flight frequency to meet the growing demand for cargo capacity fuelled by the robust trade between Hong Kong and Mainland China.

Customers utilizing this ten-time weekly dedicated service will now enjoy more options for their Hong Kong-Beijing shipment delivery schedule with the newly-added weekend flights, representing a 25 percent uplift capacity. As part of the service enhancement, DHL will utilize a larger Boeing B727-200F aircraft operated by Air Hong Kong – a 60/40 joint venture between Cathay Pacific and DHL – and customers will benefit from an overall 58 percent increase in payload capacity as the new freighter has a capacity to hold 24 tons per sector.

Trade between Hong Kong and Mainland China has been registering double-digit growth in recent years, boosted by strong Chinese exports. According to figures from China’s Ministry of Commerce, two-way trade figures in 2006 rose an impressive 21.6 percent, reaching US$166.2 billion. The uptrend continues in the first half of 2007, as trade volume expanded by a further 23.5 percent compared to a year ago. Hong Kong was China’s fourth largest trading partner and third largest export market last year.

The upgraded Hong Kong-Beijing service will further strengthen DHL’s Asia Air Network. The network currently comprises more than 30 destinations in 16 countries and territories, served by over 20 aircraft in dedicated air operations. This allows major Asia Pacific cities and other business centers to be interconnected through DHL’s regional hubs and gateways, providing DHL’s customers with overnight services across the region.

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DHL Japan shortens standard delivery times for customers

Posted by | Sep 18, 2007 | |

DHL has reduced its delivery times from two days to one day for documents and packages destined for major cities in China, Korea and Australia, where many Japanese companies are expanding their presence, and to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates – the center of trade in the Middle East. These shortened delivery times are made possible by new flights and improved collection and delivery efficiency in Japan and overseas.

DHL already provides next-day delivery to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Suzhou in China, as well as Seoul and Incheon in Korea. Now, by expanding its next-day delivery to major cities such as Tianjin and Hangzhou in China, and Daegu and Busan in Korea, DHL has further increased its industry-leading delivery speed in Asia Pacific and the Middle East region.

This reduction in standard delivery times has been achieved through the ongoing reinforcement of DHL’s ground infrastructure in Japan and the strengthening of DHL’s air network through the introduction of new flights to meet the increasing demand for international delivery.

In June this year, DHL has also opened its expanded gateway in the international cargo area – located adjacent to the runway – at Osaka’s Kansai International Airport. With the new facility, a threefold increase in cargo handling capacity has been realized through the introduction of the airport’s first automated sorting system.

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Deutsche Post World Net and UNICEF strengthen cooperation in the fight against child mortality

Posted by | Sep 18, 2007 | |

Deutsche Post World Net and UNICEF have drawn a positive assessment of their strategic partnership. DHL has been supporting the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, in the battle against childhood mortality for the past 12 months.

During the first year of the partnership, the cooperation focused on improving health care for children in Kenya. DHL helped UNICEF distribute around 3.5 million mosquito nets as part of one of the largest health campaigns in East Africa. Furthermore, measures to improve long-term health precautions such as optimizing equipment and the stocking and cataloging of drugs and vaccines in local health centers were also supported.

Deutsche Post World Net will continue its support in Kenya, for example by building a logistics center for medical purposes in the Kwale region. During 2008, the cooperation between Deutsche Post World Net and UNICEF will be expanded on a global scale. Beyond Africa, the corporation henceforth also wants to support joint projects that are part of the UNICEF-Topic “Young Child Survival and Development” in South America and Asia. This topic is part of UNICEF’s five worldwide strategic areas of focus.

The cooperation with UNICEF is part of a long-term partnership between Deutsche Post World Net and the United Nations. Deutsche Post World Net has been supporting the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as well as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the area of disaster management since December 2005.

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