DHL Global Forwarding, the freight specialist arm of DHL Group, has announced three strategic leadership appointments in Asia Pacific with the upcoming retirement of Kelvin Leung and Charles Kauffman.

Karsten Michaelis, previously SVP Ocean Freight DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, was appointed as president/representative director of DHL Global Forwarding Japan, effective July 1, taking over the position of Kauffman.

Edwin Pinto, currently head of marketing and sales at DHL Global Forwarding, Thailand and Indochina, was appointed as managing director of DHL Global Forwarding India, effective September 1, following Niki Frank's promotion.
 

Praveen Gregory, currently VP of Order Management Solutions Asia Pacific at DHL Global Forwarding, will assume the position of SVP Ocean Freight DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, effective September 1 this year.

"With Kelvin and Charles retiring this year, it has opened up a few key positions that we had to fill, and I am glad that we could do so with candidates from the network. This goes to show that we can nurture and retain talent while providing the right opportunities for growth to our employees," said Niki Frank, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding, Asia Pacific.

"All of them bring the right experience and the required expertise and will provide a fresh perspective to these roles."

Kaufmann, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding North Asia South Pacific (NASP), will step down from his role after more than five decades of valued service to the Group. He will hand over the country's responsibility for Japan to Michaelis while continuing to look after the cluster until the end of the year.

DHL said Michaelis has had an extensive career spanning over two decades in the logistics sector, he has been based primarily in the Asia Pacific region, in locations such as Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Australia and Singapore.

Since joining the group in 2011, he took on several managerial roles for Ocean Freight in Asia Pacific, including his most recent position as SVP, Ocean Freight DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, in 2017.

Pinto, who is taking over Frank's position, joined DHL in 2001 in India and has since worked in several management roles across DHL Global Forwarding. He took his latest role at DHL in 2021.

Meanwhile, Gregory — who will assume the position of SVP Ocean Freight, DHL Global Forwarding, Asia Pacific — worked for Maersk prior to joining DHL Group in Dubai Ocean Freight Operations in 2008.

In 2010, he relocated to Germany and held several roles in Market Intelligence & Strategy and Product Development. He moved to Hong Kong in 2018 to take on regional management roles at Ocean Commercial Center and Account Management ISC. In 2022, he assumed his current position as VP of Order Management Solutions Asia Pacific.