DHL to expand Asian operations
“Double-digit” growth prompts plans to further increase coverage in Asia during 2009 despite the economic downturn.
Read MoreTag: Vietnam
TNT sets up new gateway at Osaka Kansai International Airport
TNT announced the opening of its new International Gateway at Japan’s Osaka Kansai International Airport. The TNT International Gateway in Osaka Kansai will not only strengthen the express service capability of TNT’s Northeast Asian International Express Network, it will also shorten the transit time for deliveries into Osaka, from China by one day.
TNT customers will now be able to enjoy the one-stop comprehensive express delivery service between China and Osaka, one of Japan’s key manufacturing hubs, in the shortest possible time. Consignments, leaving Shanghai and other Chinese coastal cities, can now be delivered directly to Osaka Kansai. This time saving is crucial for TNT customers mainly in the electronics and apparel/ textile industries, where time critical deliveries remain one of its most important competitive advantages.
At the same time, Vietnam which has been poised as one of Asia’s key manufacturing economies and is one of the fastest growing exporting countries to Japan in Asia, will also benefit from the shortened transit times to Osaka Kansai.
Vietnam: More inspection of postal and delivery companies needed
Do Thi Tinh, deputy inspector of the Ministry of Information and Communications spoke with Buu Dien Viet Nam (Viet Nam Post) about major problems with enterprises operating postal and delivery services.
The Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) sent an inspection team for the first time to carry out a large-scale examination of enterprises operating within the postal system. What were the major problems discovered?
In 2007, the Government issued Decree No 128/2007/ND-CP on managing postal delivery services. This decree mandated that firms engaging in postal delivery not only continue to register with their city or provincial department of planning and investment, but also to register and get a licence from MoIC.
One year after the decree, however, only 13 postal delivery enterprises had been licenced from MoIC, eight enterprises were waiting for licences after turning in the appropriate documents and 14 others had informed the ministry of their business. According to our statistics, some 200 enterprises are operating in delivery services.
In our recent investigation, the major problem seemed to be that many enterprises did not know about the new State policy. They did not know that doing business in delivery services is a conditional business field which requires them to get a license from MoIC, and therefore only registered with their respective department of planning and investment.
During inspections, we informed postal delivery enterprises without licences about the need to become registered with MoIC and commanded them to supplement their documents and send them in.
What have been done about the violations?
Many planning and investment departments do not apply fines, but only give warnings and order violators to turn in their documents. It has also happened that strict punishments were given.
Our inspection team has carried out examinations in three provinces and cities and has given fines up to VND50 million (USD 3,100) to enterprises without licences, those which use measuring devices that have not been tested, or those which are charging different prices than what is on the set price list.
Did the examination and fining processes encounter any difficulties?
Some enterprises which no longer operate in postal delivery services are still registered with departments of planning and investment; there are also many providing services without registering at all. This causes much trouble for the management of these enterprises.
Another problem is that enterprises in some provinces have proper offices from which to do business, while others have an unofficial person operating without an official office.
Post offices also have many violations such as expired agency contracts, collecting the wrong amount of money for calls and having no records of subscribers.
The MoIC inspection team is planning to amend and supplement some more articles in Decree No 142/2004/ND-CP on fining violations in postal services. Why does the decree need to be amended?
In the past, the inspection unit of the ministry discovered many violations of enterprises. But the decree either does not have any sanctions for these violations, or the sanctions are not feasible. The violations include having no business registration, inadequate billing information, no customs procedures or quarantine with international packages, buying unidentified postal stamps, as well as unfair competition by offering high discount rates.
Meanwhile, the sanction is too high for those who do not register their services, which makes it difficult to apply.
What is your opinion of the State’s management of postal and delivery services?
State management on postal and delivery services has not been adequate. The inspection team from MoIC is too small, and there is too much work. In my opinion, it is necessary that the State strengthen inspection in postal and delivery services in cities and provinces in order to make enterprises operating in this field do the
FedEx announces increase in daily capacity between Vietnam and global markets
FedEx Express announced it had launched a new Airbus A310 flight service to Vietnam to meet the country’s increasing demand for reliable time-definite express services. The new service increases FedEx capacity into and out of the country fivefold, to more than 30,000kg a day.
As a result of the new service, customers also enjoy an improvement in transit times into and out of the capital, Hanoi. Customer cut-off and transit times out of Ho Chi Minh City are unchanged.
Since FedEx first established operations in Vietnam in 1994, the company has worked to support the country’s efforts to become a key export market.
The upgraded Vietnam service also strengthens FedEx AsiaOne Network, which connects 19 key Asia cities with more than 400 intra-Asia flights each week. The network is interconnected with FedEx global network – covering North and South America, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
Read MoreTNT opens key network link in Vietnam’s hi-tech hub
The new facility is part of a EUR 1 million investment in developments in the city, which includes TNT’s new Hanoi office due to open in the fourth quarter of this year.
Onno Boots, regional managing director, TNT Southeast Asia, said: “As Vietnam is strategically located as the link between China and Southeast Asia on our Asia Road Network, the completion of the TNT International & Domestic Operations Centre, North in Hanoi is an integral part of TNT’s growth strategy in the region.”
He added that more than 40 pct of volumes to and from TNT Vietnam will pass through the new centre, and growth is expected to be in the high double-digit range for the next five years as it facilitates seamless integration between TNT’s air and road networks.
Shipments passing through Vietnam will be consolidated and processed at the TNT International & Domestic Operations Centre in Hanoi before making its way northwards to China and southwards to Singapore via the Asia Road Network for subsequent airlift to Europe and China respectively, using TNT’s Boeing 747-400 ERF that flies between Singapore, Shanghai and Liege three times a week.
Boots said that the new facility gives TNT the capacity to handle four times its current load of both international and domestic freight under one roof while leveraging the Asia Road Network.
This is the third facility to be opened within three months, following TNT’s new international & domestic road hub in Bangkok, Thailand and the Singapore Country Depot.
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