Investing in a downturn pays, says TNT's UAE head

The industry-leading international express delivery service, which has its Middle East and North Africa headquarters in the UAE, saw growth in revenue within the country in the first half of 2009, ahead of management expectations. Much of the growth was due to outbound business from the UAE to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, up on the same period last year.

TNT Express have successfully taken advantage of the opportunities offered by the prevailing economic conditions, investing in a new dedicated facility in Jebel Ali Free Zone amongst other initiatives. The company has also been preparing to expand its Middle Eastern Road Network, with more day definite services to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Further investment in a daily freight uplift from Germany, the largest European market, has seen clients increasing the share of spend they give to TNT.

Much of TNT's regional strength comes from the UAE which acts as a shipping, storage and redistribution hub for major corporate clients, including Daimler and Volvo. TNT is confident for the next half of 2009, with shipments expected to rise further with the onset of Ramadan.

Bryan Moulds, TNT Express Country General Manager for the UAE commented,

"Like everyone else in the world we braced ourselves for a hit this year, but we are glad to say it never came. Traditionally logistics like any other service provider is one of the first to be reviewed but it seems that stable volumes combined with a few great contract wins, have kept us on our growth trend in the region."

TNT Express in the UAE recently announced it has been awarded a two year contract worth over Dhs6m per year by Volvo Middle East to provide express road and air distribution across the region; just one of their recent successes.

Moulds added, "It is our business to make sure that we can provide our clients with the services they require. Not only have we worked on our offer here in the UAE to give it the best balance between value and service, we have continued to develop that portfolio in a time when we can grow for less, so to speak. In a way, the recent economic challenges have led us to create a stronger, wider and more robust operation in the UAE."