Press Release

Nippon Express (China) concludes memorandum with Kazakhstan Railways on rail transport collaboration

Nippon Express (China) Co., Ltd. (Tatsuo Sugiyama, President), a local subsidiary of Nippon Express Co., Ltd. (Mitsuru Saito, President), on Tuesday, August 15 concluded a memorandum of understanding in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana with Kazakhstan Railways National Company (hereinafter, "KTZ"), Kazakhstan's national railway company, and with KTZ Express, a KTZ subsidiary engaged in logistics operations.

(KTZ's Vice President Sultanov (left) and Managing Executive Officer Sugiyama)

Kazakhstan is a key junction for railway transport linking East Asia and Europe. In response to China's Belt and Road Initiative, Nippon Express (China) in November 2015 began developing cross-border rail transport services spanning the Eurasian continent between China and Europe, and it has since enhanced these services and increased the number of cities served.

This new tie-up will see the two companies cooperating in rail transport and logistics services in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan, and developing and marketing transport products that utilize rail transport services to countries/regions in the EU, the CIS, Central Asia and the Caucasus region via Kazakhstan.

Nippon Express (China) will also be considering ways of utilizing its priority access to KTZ facilities and containers to optimize and rationalize transport processes and develop competitive, high-quality transport products.

Nippon Express is seeking through this new partnership to bolster its logistics functions in the East Asia region, and it will strive to further expand its global logistics business in keeping with its Corporate Strategy.