Kuala Lumpur, 2 July 2020 – BEST Inc. (NYSE: BEST) (“BEST” or the “Company”), a leading integrated smart supply chain solutions and logistics services provider in China, today announced its further expansion into Southeast Asia.
BEST’s launch of express delivery services in Malaysia, Cambodia and Singapore follows its entry into Thailand and Vietnam last year and marks another significant step forward in the Company’s ambitions to build an efficient logistics network with extensive coverage in Southeast Asia.
The Company also announced to elevate its international logistics solutions by launching cross-border services between China and the five markets in Southeast Asia this month.
Johnny Chou, Founder, Chairman and CEO of BEST Inc., said, “We are excited to develop our logistics networks in Southeast Asia, a key focus area of our global strategy. The outbreak of COVID-19 accelerated and amplified consumers’ reliance on e-commerce and created even larger potential opportunities in the region. We are confident that our technology-enabled logistics services and high-quality express delivery options will be a critical service component for both merchants and consumers, during both this difficult period and beyond it.”
By leveraging its asset-light model and successful experience in Thailand and Vietnam, BEST plans to be operating a total of twelve sortation centers and around 400 service stations across Malaysia, Cambodia and Singapore over the next three years. In Malaysia alone, BEST plans to be operating a total of seven sortation centers and 270 service stations across West and East Malaysia all within three years. This includes two customized flagship sortation centers in Kuala Lumpur and Phnom Penh that will be equipped with cutting-edge automation equipment, such as high-speed automatic sorting lines and dimension-weight-scanning systems.
According to joint research by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, with 360 million mobile-savvy Internet users, Southeast Asia’s e-commerce sector is on track to reach US$150 billion by 2025 from US$38 billion in 2019. In order to meet rising e-commerce demands and evolving customer needs, BEST is offering next-day delivery options for major areas of Thailand and same-day deliveries in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in Vietnam. The Company’s total parcel volume from Southeast Asia reached 8.8 million parcels in the first quarter.
BEST is also eyeing opportunities to provide additional services in the region, including supply chain management, freight delivery, and truckload capacity brokerage, with plans to operate in Indonesia and the Philippines in the near future.
