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Kerry Logistics Network Managing Director, South & South East Asia and Managing Director Operations and Technology Alan Yip gestures during an interview in Colombo – Pic by Lasantha Kumara
By Nisthar Cassim
Asia’s leading logistics service provider, Kerry, is bullish about Sri Lanka’s prospects as a hub in South Asia prompting it to expand operations in the country.
Kerry Logistics Network Managing Director, South & South East Asia and Managing Director Operations and Technology Alan Yip was in Sri Lanka recently to strategise future plans as well as meet with customers and employees.
“Sri Lanka is a very good hub for logistics and we see great potential for expansion. At present we are looking for land to build a 100,000 plus square feet warehouse to cater to the growing demand. The new facility will complement part of our existing warehousing business,” Yip told the Daily FT in an interview.
Today Kerry Sri Lanka controls over 250,000 square feet of warehousing facility and functions as a fully-fledged logistics operator.
Asia-based, global 3PL player, has operations in 59 countries and territories with local expertise spanning across the Mainland of China, India, Southeast Asia, the CIS, Middle East, Latin America and other locations. It offers a broad range of supply chain solutions from integrated logistics, international freight forwarding (air, ocean, road, rail and multimodal), e-commerce and express to industrial project logistics and infrastructure investment.
In 2022 it achieved a revenue of $ 11 billion and has over 43,000 employees. The Company has seen rapid growth in comparison to operations in 19 countries with 19,000 employees a decade ago.
Kerry Logistics’ confidence in the future potential prompted it to invest in Sri Lanka in a joint venture with IAS Holdings Ltd., in 2020 as opposed to an agency arrangement. The IAS Holdings team includes industry specialists Tania Polonnowita Wettimuny, entrepreneur and Group Managing Director and Jagath Pathirana, Group Director.
Yip’s first visit to Sri Lanka was to provide support and strategic alignments with regional development together with Southeast Asia. Kerry Logistics is a member of the famous Kuok Group which owns Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts and SF Express, the largest express operator in China.
Kerry Logistics recently initiated a Multi-Country Consolidation (MCC) program involving Less than Container Load (LCL) cargo using Sri Lanka as the hub.
From Kerry Logistics’ perspective, “we are here to stay in the long term and our expansion plans are a testimony,” Yip emphasised.
The program offers weekly direct LCL services from key Asian gateways to multiple country destinations across the globe. The new offerings will leverage Kerry’s presence and extensive ground support in Asia to provide customers with increased cost efficiency and dedicated customer care from Container Freight Station (CFS) to CFS for cargoes of any size. With the new weekly scheduled LCL services, suitable for all industries, KLN caters to more than 2,800 corridors worldwide.
Yip also welcomed Sri Lanka’s major developments such as the Colombo Port City as well as the Government’s efforts to bring stability and stimulate growth via a program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and reforms. He also emphasised that Sri Lanka’s neutrality and strategic location in the Indian Ocean augurs well for the future.
Yip was of the view that Sri Lanka further strengthening its competitiveness including infrastructure and efficiencies will help to sustain and grow the hub status. He was full of praise for Sri Lanka’s management expertise and talent pool especially with IAS Holdings. This he said was a key reason for the growth of Kerry Logistics in Sri Lanka along with the in-house specialised freight management system with advanced security features. Kerry Logistics Lanka is headed by Michael Van Dort in his capacity as Vice President with a team of experienced, young and energetic professionals.
Acknowledging the fact that the country went through its biggest crisis, Yip said that the message to Sri Lankan customers was as long as they remain positive opportunities will follow.
“As leaders, even though it’s the most difficult situation, you have to think for the best outcome and lead the people to where we need to be. The combined task by the team will give a better result than efforts individually,” he added.
