There is no debate about our world being shrunk into a global village. As I type away on my laptop while humming to the Winds of Change by the Scorpions playing on my iPod, I irreproachably concede to the “internationalisation” of my lifestyle. I’m sure we all do. Even the most hardcore opponent of globalisation will appreciate the convenience that international trade has brought about in our lives.
Reflecting back, even a decade ago, we would have to rely on our relatives and friends to bring us foreign products from their trips abroad. But nowadays a product in a local market is as distant as a product in any other country. Thanks to companies like DHL that offer logistics solutions to customers worldwide to simplify the geographical barriers and enhance the consumer experience at a local level.
Being a developing country actively engaged in national and global trade, Bangladesh needs the logistical assistance in trading to keep up with the global players. In a recent interview, M Nooruddin Chowdhury, Country Manager of DHL Global Forwarding (Bangladesh) Limited, shared with Dhaka Tribune.
“Bangladesh’s strategically located geographical location puts us at the right point. Our geographical linkage to countries like India, Nepal and Bhutan even China opens up huge trading opportunities for us. There is also the possibility of developing road connectivity with Thailand which can connect us to the tiger economies of the ASEAN countries within Asia,” said the Country Head of the global market leader in the logistics industry.
Nooruddin especially emphasised the government’s role in increasing mobility within neighbouring countries saying “every move is an opportunity as it brings in additional revenue.” Trade relations with our neighbours, thus need to be strengthened by enabling proper transportation systems in terms of road, rail, river routes as and where applicable.”
Citing example from the RMG sector, Nooruddin explains how logistics companies optimise time, freight and space to minimise the cost of these companies. In addition to cost-reduction, companies such as DHL also ensure safety and security of cargo so as to assuage the risks and uncertainties associated with trading abroad. In addition to this, DHL Global Forwarding also helps companies with information about importing and exporting goods and services.
The company has recently arranged the cold chain transshipment of pharmaceutical products to Europe. Elaborating on the achievement, Nooruddin pointed out that they had to overcome certain challenges pertaining to government rules and regulations. Since the pharmaceutical industry manufactures products which are sensitive to environmental conditions, additional care needs to be taken in transporting them.
Talking about the potential for increasing international trade for Bangladesh, Nooruddin said that Bangladesh has the resources to expand manufacture of shoes, furniture, handicrafts and leather goods to a greater extent. He acknowledges the need for more investment in these sectors for them to be able to move into foreign markets. As far as logistics and supply chain requirements of trading are concerned, Nooruddin vouches that the logistics facilities of DHL are capable of maintaining the distribution, international supply chain and reverse logistics for these companies.
In order to comply with ethical standards, IT infrastructure and in compliance with International Organization for Standardization (ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004), DHL Global Forwarding takes on additional initiatives to train its employees to adapt to global standards as well following six sigma methodology to improve processes and systems .
The global logistics company has also launched a special training session titled “Business Continuity Management,” following the new ISO 22301-2012 to equip the workforce with the know-how of disaster recovery plans. In the event of any disaster, these trained personnel will apply their expertise in minimising the impacts of the disaster on the company’s operations and its customer service.
“Logistics is an exciting industry to be in and the opportunities for growth are very high. As companies are concentrating more on their core functions, they are seeking for third parties for value addition and supply chain requirements.
“However there is a deficiency of talent in this industry. That’s why we invest so much on training our employees. Universities need to address the lack of talent to encourage the growth of the logistics industry”, concludes Nooruddin Chowdhury.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
