DHL Express boosts Philippine presence with new Las Piñas service center

MANILA, Philippines - DHL Express Philippines inaugurated yesterday its P80 million South Service Center in Las Piñas to complement the logistics company’s goal of widening its presence in the country.

The facility is also expected  to cater to the growing logistics demand of businesses in Parañaque, Pasay, Cavite and nearby provinces in South Luzon.

During the inauguration of the new facility, DHL Express country manager Nurhayati Abdullah said the company’s investment underscores their long term view on the local market.

“DHL takes a long term view in the Phillippine market as it holds great potential for growth and trade with gross domestic product forecasted to grow at an average annual rate of 5.9 percent in 2015-2019,” Abdullah said.

The new facility in Las Piñas marks the continued commitment of DHL Express to invest in the country following the successful opening of Clark Service Center in Northern Luzon in February. The company had invested P30 million in its facility in Clark.

Abdullah said the proximity of the South Service Center would benefit  customers located in free trade zones in South Luzon, such as those in Gateway Business Park in Gen.  Trias, Cavite; Philippine Export Zone Authority in Rosario, Cavite; and First Cavite Industrial Estate in Dasmariñas, Cavite.

Las Piñas is a gateway to Manila for many industries such as electronics, semiconductors and manufacturing.

“The South Service Center will play a critical role by supporting growth of our customers across South Luzon. Our investment in Las Piñas reaffirms our commitment to upgrade our services to meet the changing demand of our customers,’’ Abdullah said.

In particular, growth in demand for express services from the  semiconductors, technology and the life sciences industries as well as small and medium enterprises is expected to continue in the following years.

“We do see growth in those areas…so we’re quite confident it will spur  the continued growth (in revenues and volume) in the following years,” Abdullah said.

The Philippines is among the company’s top four countries in terms of revenues in  Southeast Asian and South Asian region.

For next year, Abdullah said the company is looking to expand its retail footprint in Cebu and Quezon City by opening more service points where walk-in customers can drop off shipments.

Occupying a land area of 3,000 square meters, the South Service Center will hold new vehicles and state-of-the-art material handling  equipment, IP cameras and 30 CCTV cameras capable of tracking shipments throughout the entire process within the service center. 

Currenty, DHL Express has eight service center facilities and more than 200 retail outlets in the country.

DHL operates in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. – With Louella Desiderio