Construction begins on multifunctional logistics center in Vietnam

-- Groundbreaking ceremony held for Song Than Logistics Center (Ho Chi Minh City) --

Nippon Express (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. ("NE Vietnam"; Masakazu Shirai, President), a subsidiary of Nippon Express Co., Ltd. (Masanori Kawai, President), on April 12 held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new warehouse in the Song Than area of Binh Duong Province on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City. More than 100 guests joined Yasuo Ito, Executive Vice President of Nippon Express and Masakazu Shirai, President of NE Vietnam, at the ceremony, where wishes were offered for trouble-free construction allowing for the start of operations in November 2010.

Vietnam had been regarded as a leading candidate for production sites in companies' China-plus-one strategies even before the Lehman Shock, and some companies have already begun shifting their production from China to Vietnam. The easing of restrictions on foreign-owned sales companies in 2009 has also prompted a succession of Japanese firms to set up sales companies in Vietnam. In view of this market background, NE Vietnam decided to build a multifunctional warehouse to meet the growing demand for logistics business.

NE Vietnam was established in July 2000 as Nippon Express' 51st overseas subsidiary, and it has since extended its business scope to import/export air and ocean cargo forwarding and overseas removals. Since 2007 it has been providing warehousing and other logistics services in the Ho Chi Minh area at its VSIP(*) warehouse using REWARDS, Nippon Express' global inventory control system.

The Song Than Logistics Center now under construction will feature a general warehouse and a bonded warehouse, both with air conditioning and refrigerator facilities, as well as a hazardous goods warehouse, allowing NE Vietnam great flexibility in addressing the diverse logistics needs of customers. The Song Than area in Binh Duong Province is very conveniently located about 25km from Ho Chi Minh City, about 25km from Cat Lai Port, Ho Chi Minh City's central port, and about 20km from Tan Son Nhat International Airport, and is favorably situated within one hour's drive of the industrial parks near Ho Chi Minh City on which Japanese companies have converged.

As Vietnam continues to grow as a production site and a consumer market, NE Vietnam will further enhance its high-quality logistics services to meet the wide-ranging and sophisticated needs of its customers.

(*) VSIP: Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park