Nippon Express Launches Hanoi-Bangkok "Mekong Land Bridge Express" Service

-- SS7000 road transport route between Shanghai and Singapore completed --

On April 1 Nippon Express launched a new road transport service - "Mekong Land Bridge Express" - linking Hanoi, Vietnam with Bangkok, Thailand.

The Mekong Land Bridge Express will ship goods between Hanoi and Bangkok in three days utilizing the "East-West Corridor" between Da Nang, Vietnam and Mawlamyaing, Myanmar that has come under the spotlight since the December 2006 opening of the Second Mekong Bridge.

The principal modes of transport between Hanoi and Bangkok at present are air transport and marine transport, and door-to-door marine transport service takes 14 days. This new service will reduce lead time substantially, to about one-fifth, using a land route. We will also provide services incorporating containers with the same specifications as marine cargo containers to meet the demand for large-volume transport.
In addition, we intend to start up consolidated services this summer to handle the transport of small-lot shipments.

SS7000 is the collective designation used at Nippon Express for the 7000 or so kilometers of road transport routes connecting Shanghai and Singapore. The Company already offers other service products along this route: "Star Night Express" between China's Huanan region and Hanoi, and "Oriental Land Bridge Express" between Singapore and Bangkok.

The launch of this Mekong Land Bridge Express service opens the last remaining Thailand-Vietnam section of SS7000 and marks the completion of a long-haul transport route traversing six national borders.

The need for a transport route linking China (a popular site for expansion among Japanese and other manufacturers), Vietnam (the recent focus of attention in "China-plus-one" strategies) and Southeast Asia has risen sharply, and high expectations are held out for the Mekong River basin and the rest of Indochina as a growth market.

Nippon Express' completion of SS7000 will enhance convenience in transporting finished products and parts/materials to this area, and will help meet diversifying customer needs for higher quality, shorter lead times, and reduced transport costs.