Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) has received approval from Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning & Investment to establish a wholly-owned company to provide container transportation and logistics services in Vietnam, marking a first for a Singapore-based company.
The new company – APL-NOL (Vietnam) – will replace the existing joint venture on January 1, 2007. APL-NOL (Vietnam) will have offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Haiphong and Danang.
NOL's subsidiaries APL and APL Logistics have been providing container transportation and supply chain management services in Vietnam in association with a leading local shipping and logistics company, Vietfracht, since 1991.
Today, APL offers five weekly sailings from Vietnam to global destinations and APL Logistics operates more than 30,000 m2 of warehouse space in the country.
NOL was also an early investor in Vietnam’s first privately-owned, purpose-built container port – Vietnam International Container Terminal – which is expected to handle around 440,000 TEU this year.
NOL Group president & CEO Dr Thomas Held said: that the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary is consistent with NOL’s global strategy of taking first-mover advantage in key emerging markets such as Vietnam.
The approval of the licence was based on the provisions of the Singapore-Vietnam Connectivity Agreement, signed in December 2005, which aims to strengthen the economic relationship between the two South East Asian countries.
Vietnam’s container throughput has grown by an average of 19% per year since 2000, and is expected to rise by around 20% this year.
NOL Asia-Middle East president Jim McAdam said: “Over the next five years, we aim to add capacity in key trade lanes, further develop our container terminal interests and expand our logistics capabilities.”
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