The DHL Group is focusing on growth regions empowering businesses operating across and with the Middle East. As part of the Group’s strategy for the next five years, the logistics giant intends to spend more than EUR 500 million in the Gulf region, predominantly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In a release, DHL states that the investment will significantly strengthen the region’s logistics backbone. It spans all four divisions – DHL Express, DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Supply Chain, and DHL eCommerce. By enhancing infrastructure, expanding networks and capacity, and elevating service capabilities, DHL aims to capitalize on growth opportunities from trade, ensuring support and resilience for customers as they navigate evolving market demands.
Wide range of services
The four divisions offer customers a broad portfolio of logistics and transportation services. These include express parcel delivery, air, ocean, rail and road options, warehousing, fulfilment and distribution, customs brokerage and specialized operations for sectors such as life sciences, healthcare, battery logistics and e-commerce solutions.
“The region of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is rapidly emerging as a global logistics and innovation hub,” stressed John Pearson, CEO of DHL Express. “Our investment reflects the region’s increasing strategic importance in connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa, and our commitment to supporting its transformation into a catalyst for regional and global trade. DHL Express is seeing dynamic growth and export potential in the region’s e-commerce sector, for example, which is providing opportunities for entrepreneurs and smaller businesses to expand their offering to global markets.”
Local companies have mushroomed
DHL has identified the Middle East as an emerging and vital trade hub, facilitating commerce between Asia, Europe, and the U.S., while serving increasingly as an air and ocean gateway to and from Africa. Management emphasizes the trend whereby, in addition to large multinationals, a growing number of medium-sized and smaller companies have mushroomed in the Gulf region, significantly expanding the market.
Hendrik Venter, CEO of DHL Supply Chain, Europe, Middle East & Africa, said, “DHL Supply Chain has actively expanded in Saudi Arabia and UAE, in recent years, recognizing the positive economic development, the increasing maturity and sophistication of supply chain operations in the region, and the growing demand for specialized, outsourced logistics support. With a strong focus on the energy sector, life sciences, healthcare, and technology, we are poised to take advantage of our contract logistics expertise to meet the unique needs of our customers and drive innovation in these critical areas.”
Reliability becomes a selling point in a volatile world
The investments will focus on the following areas across DHL’s four business units:
- Express: Investments will be made in hub and gateway facilities, as well as in enhancing aviation capacity to improve service efficiency and delivery speed.
- Global Forwarding: The company will expand its overall presence in the region, invest in its fleet – including electric trucks – and pursue joint venture initiatives such as the recent joint venture with Etihad Rail to enhance connectivity and logistics capabilities.
- Supply Chain: There will be an expansion of the contract logistics offer in both the UAE and KSA, which includes increasing warehousing capacity, upgrading equipment, and integrating advanced technology to optimize operations.
- DHL eCommerce: The acquisition of the delivery provider, AJEX, in Saudi Arabia, will enhance DHL’s e-commerce capabilities, facilitating better last-mile delivery services in a rapidly growing market.
Sustainability remains an overarching goal
Amadou Diallo, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding, Middle East & Africa, remarked: “This investment underscores our confidence in the Middle East’s economic trajectory, and our continued commitment to be ahead of the curve in digital capabilities and sustainable transportation for our customers. We also consistently aim to find entrepreneurial freight forwarding solutions that build supply chain resilience, keep their goods flowing, and help them to uncover growth opportunities in a world that is characterized by uncertainty and volatility.”
Touching on sustainability, DHL stresses that it keeps pushing alternative fuel solutions up front by investing in aviation fuels and biofuels for road and ocean freight, as well as solar panels supplying facilities with clean energy. This commitment ensures that supply chains become cleaner, and customers achieve their net zero ambitions, the release concludes.
