Cetin Yalcin, the newly-appointed country general manager for TNT Express Philippines, said two more branches will be established in the near term to support the Group’s growing business in the country.

TNT, through local arm TNT Express Phils., has four branches in the Philippines, namely in Cebu, Mandaluyong, Makati, and Parañaque. Its domestic operations are supported by 16 agents.

Meanwhile, Yalcin said that as the new country manager, his immediate focus would be to grow the revenue and profitability of the Philippine office of the Netherlands-based company.

A TNT veteran of almost 15 years, Yalcin was appointed to lead the business in the Philippines as part of TNT’s aggressive growth plans and expansion in the region.

He noted that while TNT’s business in the country is growing, its profitability remains challenged by the volatility of the peso against the US dollar.

"The foreign exchange rate is still a big concern. To be able to lessen any adverse impact to the company, we plan to introduce more products and services, which would ultimately strengthen our revenues," Yalcin said.

In terms of global strategy, TNT earlier announced that it will invest 100 million euros or approximately P6.5 billion in the next five years to strengthen its network coverage, connectivity and infrastructure.

TNT aims to build a leadership position by leveraging on the soaring demand for freight express services between Southeast Asia, China and Europe. This demand is mainly driven by customers in the high-tech, equipment and machinery and healthcare sectors that are increasingly moving large volumes of high-value goods between Southeast Asia, China and Europe.

The company recently took delivery of a Boeing 747-400 ER Freighter in Singapore to support its growth in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.

"As the market leader in Europe, and with the strongest domestic road network in China that remains unrivalled, TNT is well-placed to offer truly differentiating solutions for customers. Our strategic objective is to build a leadership position in domestic, intra-regional and selected intercontinental express flows in the emerging Asian region. TNT’s volumes between China and Europe have grown over 20 per cent in 2007, and we’re certain that the stop in Singapore will further accelerate this volume growth," James McCormac, Chief Operating Officer of TNT’s express division, said.

Meanwhile, Yalcin, said the introduction of the new 747 stop in Singapore is beneficial to Philippine customers. "The introduction of Singapore as a new hub for TNT’s 747 brings a new level of connectivity between the Philippines and China, Europe and the rest of Asia through Singapore. We see this as a welcome development, especially for our clients who are active traders with these countries," he said.

Complementing the Asia Road Network, which links over 120 cities in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and China, the enhancement of TNT’s air network offers customers an integrated, multi-country, multi-modal solution and hence a onestopshop approach to developing customised solutions for moving heavy, highvalue shipments. With its strong domestic network capabilities, TNT is capable of moving freight between major cities in Southeast Asia to China with an average transit time of 48 hours. To Europe, the company offers transit times as short as one day.