Express strategy

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Hamdi Osman, FedEx’s senior vice president for the Middle East, explains why the courier giant’s regional developments will not be impacted by the global recession.

Far flung destinations, bad weather and technical problems do not deter delivery company, FedEx Express, from transporting goods. And while beating global recession may be more challenging than posting birthday presents to Fiji, the organisation is intent on rising to the challenge.

By listening to customers' needs and economising in certain areas, Hamdi Osman, FedEx Express' senior vice president for the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa, believes the company can easily sustain itself.

"One thing we're looking at is launching an economy service," he explains. "It will provide customers with an option where they can choose to have their package in three or four days rather than next day delivery and I really think this will be the way of the future."

Moreover, the company believes delivering packages via road transport whenever possible will save costs. "We may be expanding our road services rather than carrying the bulk of products by airfreight," says Osman.

FedEx is not the only company to be affected by the financial crisis. With transportation industry figures dropping rapidly, all sectors of the business are now feeling the pinch and need to take action.

However, Osman maintains that the cargo industry, rather than the express business, is taking the brunt.

"Cargo has definitely been the most affected. FedEx has been a good model for other companies year over year as we are so dedicated to the needs of customers." Ultimately, management believes it is this commitment that will ensure the company's survival.

"Smaller companies, medium sized companies and even big companies have tough times and the only reason why they have problems or have to shut down is because somewhere or somehow they did not pay attention to or listen to what the customer wanted and this is something FedEx does very well."

Established in the Middle East in 1989, Dubai has quickly become the central hub for FedEx in the region.

"In the transportation business you have all these hot-spots when you consider the links in the chain and the Middle East is one of them. The region is as important as the US, as important as Europe or Asia. Out of this office alone we cover 82 countries," says Osman.

The GCC in particular is at the forefront for industry in the area. "Oil has played a major role and also there has been a construction boom and a lot of the talent come here. The GCC all together is becoming a heavyweight."

In addition the Middle East has an ‘open skies' policy with just one tariff payment for each item shipped. "Anywhere else in the world you have a minimum of 1500 tariffs. So if you ship an envelope that's one tariff, and ship another that's a different tariff, you have to hire thousands of people to make sure it is ok. In the GCC region, the process is simplified, with the delivery of cars, envelopes and even coffee all included in one tariff," adds Osman.

"This, I think, is what makes the industry lucrative in this part of the world." At present, FedEx uses a large fleet of freighter aircraft to provide round-the-clock air links between the GCC countries, Indian subcontinent and the Dubai regional facility."

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