EXPRESS services provider DHL Express has invested P30 million in a new service-center facility in Clark, Pampanga, expanding its network that caters to the growing logistics demand in the region.
DHL Express Philippines Country Manager Yati Abdullah explained that her company decided to invest in a new facility in Northern Luzon due to its potential. We are moving to a new facility in Clark, because we see the potential in the Clark development area, where manufacturers are growing. We invested ahead of the curve to support the growth,” she said in a press briefing on Wednesday. “This is fully a DHL investment. We opened the facility in end-February.”
Clark is the Philippines’s second-biggest metropolis, with a population of over 11 million that contributes 10 percent to the national economy.
The Clark Service Center, covering a total of 1,000 square meters, is designed to optimize processes that result to increased handling capacity; facilitating the industry’s growing demands for trade and benefiting customers particularly those based in the morning North Luzon area.
North Luzon is a gateway to Manila for many industries, such as electronics, semiconductors, agriculture and manufacturing.
“We see Clark as the future international gateway for the Philippines,” said Yasmin Aladad Khan, senior vice president for South East Asia and South Asia, DHL Express. “Its existing infrastructure makes it a perfect hub for trade and commerce. The opening of our Service Center in Clark reinforces our commitment to strengthen the logistics capabilities in the area by building technologically advanced infrastructure that will support and facilitate the industry’s growing demands for trade.”
The Clark Service Center Facility will be the first investment of DHL Express in the Philippines in 2015; with other plans following for the year, including expansion in key provinces and cities.
The facility will hold new vehicles, conveyor and a cargo scanner. For security purposes, the new service center will be equipped with closed-circuit television cameras all strategically located throughout the service center in line with the shipment process flow. It is also equipped with efficient LED lighting to reduce power consumption and carbon emissions by an estimated 30 percent.
“The Philippine market holds great potential for us and we are always on the lookout to further expand our footprint in the country, such as with the investment in this Clark Service Center facility. More important, we will continue to invest in upgrading our facilities and skill sets of our employees to meet the changing demands of our customers in the Philippines,” Abdullah said.
DHL Express is the local unit of German logistics firm Deutsche Post DHL, which is present in 220 counties, employing 315,000 employees worldwide.