RIYADH – A global market leader in the logistics industry, DHL, is planning to spend more than $30 million over the next 12 months on the construction of three new gateways at the Kingdom's main international airports, DHL Express Country Manager in Saudi Arabia, Geoff Walsh, said. “The three airports are Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah. The gateway of the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam is expected to be operational by coming January,” he told the Saudi Gazette. “The new gateways, when completed, will be linked to all major DHL Express distribution hubs around the world, handle directly all logistic operations and provide transportation solutions to DHL customers in Saudi Arabia,” he noted. He added that the new gateways will allow DHL Express to expand its operation to other parts of the Kingdom which are not served by any other delivery service. Walsh further said that this investment in airports is going to generate more jobs, in particular for Saudis. “DHL Saudi Arabia is working toward reaching the 50 percent required by the new Saudization rules and regulations.” “To achieve this mileage, DHL started to approach Saudi universities to look for young Saudi graduates and is working with local companies to find young Saudi interested to bring them into business,” he said. “We recognized that DHL future is in localization, and we are very keen to Saudize our business as much as we can, because DHL in Saudi Arabia is a future rather than a company. And for sustainability, we need to have locals in our company, so at the end of the game is that when DHL moves away from the Kingdom in a couple of years time, there will be young Saudis ready to step in the senior management role.” Walsh commended DHL partnership with SNAS, its Saudi partner, describing it as a great one because it tends to invest in the locals to generate more jobs and to offer vast opportunities for DHL'S customers, noting that DHL has been the first Saudi logistic company to establish a female call and telemarketing center in cooperation with SNAS. Expressing his satisfaction with the Saudi female performance in his company, Walsh said “the center is employing 50 Saudi females. It is a very successful experiment. Our customers do like it. They are very professional and show interest in the job and also respect to our customers.” — SG
