Tag: India

China leaps ahead of India on postal laws

Posted by | Nov 18, 2006 | |

While India has gone slow on the proposed amendment to monopolise handling of documents weighing less than 300 gm, China is all set to revise its postal law to bequeath China Post’s express arm EMS (Express Mail Service), the sole authority to handle documents weighing under 150gm.

Exactly like in India, all four international giants – DHL, TNT, FedEx and UPS – and over a dozen domestic operators are a disgruntled lot, since the amendment has the potential to paralyse the industry. Steven Lim, spokesperson of DHL, told ET that it is difficult at present to ascertain the direct impact on their business, based on the unpublished 8th revision of the draft Bill.

“The good news is that the (Chinese) government has considered lowering the weight monopoly to 150 gm, which is lower than the previous draft of 300 gm or more. We believe that it is best to include other standards than just weight, like a price multiple,” says Mr Lim.

Most industry officials agree. “Price multiple could be a better standard. The express companies can be restricted to price their services on par with that of the postal department by stipulating a price differential. The price-conscious customer can go to the postal department, while others can patronise private courier/express companies,” says an industry official.

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DHL launches GTS to simplify international trade

Posted by | Nov 17, 2006 | |

Express and logistics company DHL today launched a new service, Global Trade Services (GTS), to facilitate trade through international shipping by managing duty regulations and business processes.

The service for the company’s customers in the Asia Pacific region caters to the needs of international shippers looking at streamlining their logistics process, a company release said.

“Leveraging DHL’s trade facilitation expertise, customers will be able to reduce the complexity, risks and costs of international shipping and do more business,” DHL Express CEO Scott Price said.

The service would provide trade solutions apart from the company’s core transportation offerings and would enable shippers to trade internationally with greater control, increased transparency and efficiency, he added.

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What's good for the post office

Posted by | Nov 15, 2006 | |

There is both a similarity and a critical difference between what China and India are contemplating. The similarity is that officialdom in both the countries wants to reserve postal mail below a certain weight for the state-owned service, amidst strong protest from private operators in the field. The private courier services in India and China have pointed to the most important consequence that such a monopoly for the incumbent is likely to have_kill a large number of low-skill jobs with the couriers, which governments can hardly afford to allow.

In the case of India, the website where the draft Bill to sanction this monopoly is posted for public discussion says in support of its move that such monopolies exist in other countries. But what it does not say and which is relevant is that in one part the world, for example the European Union, where such a practice still exists, it is set for sunset under the European Commission’s ongoing reform programmes. India should surely conform to the future, not the past.

China and India are both examining the future of their post offices in the wake of some of the leading earlier fully state-owned European postal services successfully transforming themselves. It is important for India to get things right but as of now there are no signs that it will be able to do so.

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Emirates Post to buy Indian company

Posted by | Nov 14, 2006 | |

Emirates Post will acquire an Indian cargo and courier company as it moves into new businesses before its proposed privatisation next year.

New business units are being created to handle logistics and remittances services before the UAE postal firm is put under a holding company, which will oversee its expansion abroad, officials told Gulf News yesterday.

“We are introducing new businesses into the overall structure of Emirates Post. Privatisation is the only way for us to run successful operations in the UAE and go into the global market. We cannot go into the global market as government,” Emirates Post Chairman and UAE Minister of Communications Sultan Saeed Al Mansouri said.

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DHL abandons Blue Dart buyback plan as stock soars

Posted by | Nov 14, 2006 | |

DHL Express Singapore, which bought out domestic courier company Blue Dart in ’04, has backed out from its decision to buy back the balance 19% of Blue Dart’s equity held by minority shareholders. The buy back would have resulted in delisting of Blue Dart Express from the BSE. DHL has decided to scrap the process, because the price of Rs 950 per share arrived through the reverse book-building, was much higher than the company’s offer price of up to Rs 550 a share.

In Blue Dart’s case, it is believed that institutional investors, who hold a significant chunk of the outstanding 19% equity, were unwilling to tender the shares at Rs 550, as they expect the organised logistics business to grow rapidly over the next 4-5 years.

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