Turkish Airlines’ Turkish Cargo, Chinese cargo giant ZTO and Hong Kong based PAL Air Ltd. have signed a joint venture (JV) to unite in a logistics initiative.
The partnership is regarded not only as a huge strategic step for Turkey prior to the opening of Istanbul New Airport, but a game changer for the global express transport business.
The JV was signed by Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, Mr M. İlker Aycı, ZTO Express Chairman Mr. Mei Song LAI and PAL Air Ltd. Vice-Chairman Ms. Vivian Lau.
Mr. M. İlker Ayci, said: “As Turkish Airlines, ZTO Express and PAL Air Ltd., we are announcing the signing of MoU to build a Joint Venture company to operate as a Global Express/ Courier company mainly focusing on Global E-commerce market with full door to door services.
“We are now delighted to make this strategic move into Global Express business together with the strong partnership of ZTO, the best and largest express company from China and our long term cross border forwarding partner PAL Air Ltd. from Hong Kong.
“The Joint Venture, after reaching quickly to fully functional and operational levels, is expected to take place within the world’s largest integrators.
“In 5 years’ time it will generate over US$2 billion revenue. The growth is expected to continue gradually parallel to the e-commerce demand.”
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The services of the new global express joint venture company which will be based in Hong Kong, will include all door to door logistics activities; trucking, collection and distribution, freight transportation, cross docking and final mile delivery.
It will also include warehouse management, order and supply chain management when necessary.
ZTO is the world’s largest parcel distributer, by daily 28 million parcels and additionally having the widest express delivery coverage in whole China.
In fact, very recently, global giant Alibaba Group announced that they were to buy 10% of the ZTO Express through an investment of $1.38 billion, deal expected to close within June, 2018.
PAL Air Ltd. on the other hand, has launched a B to C Wholesales Postal Express Service including last mile fulfilment to the retail express services providers in Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Vietnam, India and the USA.
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Speaking at the signing ceremony, ZTO Express Chairman Mr. Mei Song LAI said: “In 2017, ZTO's annual parcel volume reached 6.22 billion parcels.
“As the largest express delivery Company in the world, ZTO is an open platform built on core values of ‘Co-create and Share’.
“Because of the innovation and globalization of new retail and e-commerce, China's logistics industry is provided with tremendous new growth opportunities.
“ZTO will continue to solidify and strengthen its competitive advantage for domestic growth, and will actively explore and expand international markets, building cross-border business as an important growth engine for the future.”
Pal Air Ltd. Vice-Chairman Ms. Vivian Lau said: “We are in one of the most exciting times of the human history.
“The IoT, robotics, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, VR/AR/MR will unleash unprecedented opportunities and challenges.
“To add to this list, the world is awaiting the launch of 5G which promises 10 gigabits per second, a hundred times faster than the current 4G technology. All these will provide further fuel to the already explosive e-commerce development.”