In yet another example of the strong demand for logistics services in Southeast Asia, Kerry Logistics has opened its first IT development center in Penang, Malaysia, to support the company’s rapidly growing international operations.
Hong Kong-based Kerry Logistics said it plans to use the new center as an offshore support center to share resources among its different offices around the world. The company said this should increase operational efficiency and lower costs. Penang has seen rapid growth in the past 10 years, making it one of the fastest growing states in Malaysia.
“The Penang government has played an important role in promoting the IT development of this city, making it one of the preferred Asia technology bases of many international IT giants,” said George Yeo, chair of Kerry Logistics. “Establishing our IT development center in this dynamic city will provide us readily available local IT resources, a strong pool of multilingual talents and good infrastructure.”
Kerry is not the only logistics firm targeting air cargo opportunities in Malaysia. In November 2015, CEVA Logistics expanded a warehouse outside Kuala Lumpur, making it the largest warehouse complex in its Southeast Asia logistics portfolio. Shortly thereafter, UTi Worldwide established a multimodal hub in Kuala Lumpur.
Photo: The honorable Lim Guan Eng, chief minister of Penang (fifth from right), the honorable Dato’ Ng Wan Peng, COO of MDeC (fifth from left) and George Yeo, chairman of Kerry Logistics (fourth from right).