The Kingdom is well positioned to become the prime logistics hub of the region, thanks to its geographical location along with the ongoing infra push, according to a leading regional logistics tycoon. Kettivit Sittisoontornwong, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Thailand-based renowned global logistics firm LEO Global Logistics Public Company Limited, was speaking to Khmer Times when he made the remark.
“Cambodia has bright prospects to become an ideal logistic hub of the region. And the Kingdom’s geographic location offers the best support to explore this opportunity.
“Geographically, the Kingdom is located between two fast industrialising nations – Thailand and Vietnam, which is a great advantage and also China is not far away. The Kingdom itself is on a rapid growth path and is fast becoming a regional pioneer in many industrial sectors.”
Kettivit emphasised that the Kingdom’s government also has great plans to transform the nation into a regional logistics hub. “Recently, I was privileged to meet the Kingdom’s transportation minister and could understand from the discussion that a plethora of plans are in place to improve and update the Kingdom’s logistics sector along with the ongoing infra boost drive.”
He said the global logistics segment has returned to pre-pandemic levels and is expected to further surge in the coming days. “Right now, the international logistics services are going back to the pre-pandemic levels. We must also understand that new logistics chains involving countries and regions such as India, China along with Asean and Mideast nations have also been strengthened during the post-pandemic season other than traditional logistics networks that focus more on Europe and the US,” Kettivit pointed out.
However, he stressed that many internal and external challenges remain within the logistics market. “The tightening of interest rates in the US is definitely a matter of concern. Our agents in the US say that most of their customers have now switched to savings mode from spending mode, substantially reducing business opportunities.
“The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict is also not a positive development for the global logistics sector. However, I am confident that things will return to normal by the end of this year, further boosting the global logistics market. We will have to keep a balanced view regarding the emerging and developed markets.”
Kettivit was in Phnom Penh last week to announce the partnership between LEO Global Logistics and LogiCam, a Cambodian logistics firm.