DHL to open international gateway in Medan

Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Air delivery company DHL Indonesia, a subsidiary of Brussels- based DHL Worldwide Express, said on Thursday it would open an international gateway in Medan, North Sumatra, in June this year.

"Medan is closer to Singapore so the export-import activities in Greater Medan will be faster, cheaper and more efficient," DHL Indonesia gateway manager Adenan Tampubolon said during a press visit to the DHL gateway in Jakarta.

He said DHL Indonesia currently has four international gateways, in Jakarta, Balikpapan (East Kalimantan), Denpasar (Bali), Batam, and one domestic gateway in Makassar (South Sulawesi) which serves domestic air delivery to eastern parts of Indonesia.

Adenan said that last year DHL Indonesia delivered an average of 10 tons of exported goods daily, a jump from the around seven tons delivered daily in 2000. He added that the delivery of imported goods also rose to a daily average of 12 tons from eight tons per day the previous year.

He said most Indonesian exported goods were delivered directly to Singapore, San Francisco, London, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, while the imported goods were from the U.S., Asia and Europe.

He said exported goods mostly came from the textile and pharmaceutical industries, while most of the imported goods were raw materials for export-oriented industries.

DHL Worldwide Express is jointly owned by Deutsche Post World Net, Lufthansa and Japan Airlines.

DHL has invested about US$10 million in Indonesia during the past five years. DHL has been operating in Indonesia for 26 years and has 65 branches with 750 employees across the country.

According to Bryan Jamison, DHL Worldwide area director for Southeast Asia, Indonesia is the fourth largest contributor to DHL's revenue in Southeast Asia, after Singapore, India and Malaysia.

"(W)e are still seeing double digit growth within the Asia- Pacific region," he said.