Global logistic giant Kintetsu World Express Inc (KWE) has formally kicked off its operations in Bangladesh with an eye to becoming a major hub of logistics and supply-chain business.
The Japanese company KWE's expansion of its footprint is seen by stakeholders as a significant move to boost the country's logistics sector.
Talking to the FE, the senior management of the $7.0-billion company said as Bangladesh is becoming an important part of the global supply chain, KWE decided to make its direct presence from February.
The freight-forwarding and supply-chain major KWE is a subsidiary of the Japanese railway-holding company Kintetsu Group Holdings.
It provides air and sea freight forwarding, customs brokerage and warehouse inventory management services.
Yasuyuki Tani, KWE managing director of South-East Asia and Oceania Region, spoke to the FE on Monday narrating the rationale behind the company's Bangladesh venture.
"We understand Bangla-desh is becoming one of the top emerging markets and as an important player in the global freight forwarding and supply chain business, we think that we have to include this country in or business network," he said.
The company expects to earn 1.0 trillion yen in revenues by five years and the expansion is part of its effort to meet the target.
"The company's growth strategy is to expand organically and geographically to support its global and regional customers. With this aim, KWE registered our legal entity Kintetsu World Express (Bangladesh) Ltd in January," cited Mr Tani.
The KWE has set up its registered office in Gulshan, Dhaka, and an operational office in Chattogram.
It has been operating business through exclusive agency arrangement business presence in Bangla-desh for more than two decades.
Highlighting Bangla-desh's importance, Mr Tani said a number of Western and Japanese apparel manufacturers have already established operations in Bangladesh.
Further growth in transport demand is expected in the future due to the growth of consumer markets, changes in supply chains and diversification of industrial structures within Asia, he added.
"As you may well recognise Japan's involvement and contribution to Bangla-desh dates back to pre-independence. The support continues with its foreign investment, infrastructure development and transfer of technology in various fields and forms."
"It's in this journey, we as KWE wish to take a bigger part and contribute to the growth and development in ways we do best. Our company is built upon a value system that covers all facets of business ethics, environmental sustainability, equal employment opportunities," he said.
Mr Tani said the company would focus on international transportation initially and gradually work to build its capabilities for the domestic market.
"KWE and its group companies are very strong in Retail, automotive, healthcare, hi-tech verticals and ranks among the top 15 companies globally in sea and air mode of transportation. Our endeavour is to actively participate in the industry initiatives in Bangladesh and spread our core values, as we aim to maintain high quality service and build a customer experience."
According to Mr Tani, his business group is committed to providing flexible services and expanding its network throughout South-east Asia, including Bangladesh, to meet the needs of customers.
"We believe that KWE can play a vital role in Bangladesh's import and export sector," he continued.
Founded in 1970 and headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, the KWE has presence in more than 45 countries, 304 cities and 685 locations worldwide with approximately 18,000-plus employees.
Vibhu Prakash, KWE managing director (Bangladesh operations), said their customers are expecting much more services and the company also is looking at more value addition.
"Bangladesh is actually a very, very critical part in the subcontinent business right now," he added.
About the future plan of the company, he said it has a plan to start warehouse operations and also to be involved in cross-border transportation.
Meanwhile, a function was hosted in Dhaka on Tuesday evening to mark the commencement of the KWE's direct operations in Bangladesh.
Iwama Kiminori, Japa-nese ambassador in Dhaka, was present at the event as the chief guest.
mirmostafiz@yahoo.com
