DHL Global Forwarding has rolled out its DHL ASIACONNECT+ in Indonesia 

connecting the largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, to DHL’s road freight network across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and China.

DHL said in a statement that adding Indonesia to the service portfolio will give its customer a new option for multimodal freight service, which is up to 35% cheaper and reduces carbon emissions by up to 54% compared to airfreight.

It is also 65% faster as compared to ocean freight, providing the perfect middle-ground for customers who want more flexibility.

DHL ASIACONNECT is a robust scheduled road network across Indonesia’s key ASEAN trading markets. 

“Businesses moving goods out of Indonesia now have a strong viable alternative to traditional air and ocean freight,” said Vincent Yong, president director, DHL Global Forwarding Indonesia.

According to DHL’s Global Connectedness Index, more than half of Indonesia’s trade flows are regional, with 58% of its exports and 69% of its imports going to and coming from trading partners in Asia Pacific.

With DHL ASIACONNECT+, shipments from various cities in Indonesia, including Bandung, Balikpapan, Semarang and Lampung, containing locally-produced goods, such as textiles, machinery and electronic goods, are consolidated in Jakarta by air or truck before being air- freighted to Singapore and transported via road freight to Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Bangkok.

An extension of the offering to Vietnam and China, as well as imports to Indonesia from the various cities along DHL ASIACONNECT,  will follow at a later stage.

DHL said while the manufacturing sector in Indonesia has been named as the engine of its projected average economic growth of 6.3% till 2024, logistics costs are among the highest in Asia at 24% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“There is significant value for businesses in Indonesia to strengthen their intra-Asia supply chain. Half of trade from Asia are bound for destinations within Asia and Asia’s economies are forecasted to be larger than the rest of the world combined by 2020,” said Bruno Selmoni, VP, head of road freight & multimodal ASEAN and South Asia, DHL Global Forwarding.

“Indonesia is an excellent manufacturing hub for companies looking to diversify from China due to rising costs. Building a greater range of transportation options for businesses enables companies to better leverage Indonesia’s strategic location as a production base for the increasingly affluent domestic and regional markets,” he added.