Kerry Logistics has expanded its presence in Pakistan by forming a new subsidiary in the country to tap into growing trade in South Asia as well as the new business opportunities along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

According to Kerry, the new subsidiary provides air and ocean freight, cross-border road freight to Afghanistan and China, project logistics and inland trucking services through its offices in Karachi and Lahore. It will enhance Kerry’s capabilities to take advantage of the growth in trade between the two countries.

“We are extremely excited about the economic development of Pakistan in the past five years,” said Robert Tan, managing director of South and Southeast Asia at Kerry Logistics. “Kerry Logistics is committed to developing an overland transportation network for road, rail and intermodal freight services in Asia. Riding on the immense opportunities brought on by the establishment of the CPEC, we will leverage our extensive international freight forwarding network and expertise in rail and road freight to provide end-to-end and cost-effective multimodal solutions for customers across the region.”

The CPEC is a major pilot scheme of the Belt and Road initiative and was proposed by the Chinese government in May 2013. It is a multi-billion infrastructure development plan to link China with markets in Central and South Asia, as well as to open new trade and transport routes across Asia. The project will create a 3,000-kilometre economic corridor via roads, railways, and oil and gas pipelines running from Kashgar in Xinjiang in northwestern China to Gwadar Port in southern Pakistan.

Kerry also offers multimodal freight solutions to customers via block train and trucking services along the CPEC through member company Lanzhou Pacific Logistics.