Trade with neighbours first, then comes the others – Harry J
View(s):If South Asian countries get together and do business, there won’t be a need to reach out to the Europe and Western countries, says businessman Harry Jayawardena, Chairman of Aitken Spence PLC.
He made this statement at an event organised by the company recently – the partnership of Aitken Spence PLC with the second largest international parcel delivery network in Europe, DPD (Dynamic Parcel Distribution) Group.
Mr. Jayawardana said, “Similar to other countries in the world, the South Asian countries must get together and move forward. If we trade among ourselves, we will not need Europe. Business can be developed within the region itself. We have to see that business is harnessed and make sure that we deliver the service. India should take the lead politically, business wise and culturally. I don’t see any reason why we should not enhance our activities with the neighbours.” First the neighbours, then comes the others, he noted.
DPD Group is the international delivery network of GeoPost France that delivers to 230 countries globally. The company has a strategic alliance with India’s largest network, DTDC Express that holds a 42 per cent stake. The services of DPD Group are now available in Sri Lanka and Maldives, through this new partnership.
GeoPost France Executive Vice President, Arnold Schroven, speaking at the event, mentioned that GeoPost has been there for 200 years and has revenue of more than US$ 25 billion. 50 per cent of the business is traditional mail, 25 per cent is postal bank and the remaining 25 per cent is parcel business. The parcel business is booming and it is the same in this region of the world. Mail is going down and banks do not make big money. DPD was founded in 1976 in Germany and it’s the number two brand in Europe. The company delivers around four million parcels per day which is equivalent to 1.1 billion parcels per year.
“We have a growth of 10 per cent every year and we have a presence in Russia, South Africa, South America, Brazil and Hong Kong. Our strategy is long term for 5, 10 and 20 years. We have experts in different areas in UK, Switzerland and Germany. We can bring the knowledge we have to Sri Lanka,” added Mr. Schroven. - (RM)