Turkey's national carrier Turkish Airlines, Chinese cargo giant ZTO Express and Hong Kong-based PAL Air will form a logistics company in Hong Kong.
Ilkay Ayci, chairman of Turkish Airlines, said that the new joint venture, Global Ekspres, will include all door to door logistics activities; trucking, collection and distribution, freight transportation, cross docking and final mile delivery.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. Ayci also said that the new Global Express/ Courier company will generate $2 billion of revenue in 5 years.
Mei Song Lai, the chairman of ZTO Express, said China's logistics industry is provided with "tremendous" new growth opportunities due to the innovation and globalization of new retail and e-commerce sector.
"The cooperation will form synergy by combining strong core competencies and integrating key resources, and will undoubtedly effect positive progress in the areas of global express delivery, warehousing, cargo freight, and aviation route development and more, and will ultimately benefit traders and consumers globally,” Mei said.
Alibaba Group and its logistic arm Cainiao Network announced on May 29 that Cainiao will invest US$1.38 billion in ZTO Express in exchange for an approximately 10% equity stake in the company. The transaction is expected to close in early June, subject to customary closing conditions.
Pal Air's Vice Chairman Vivian Lau said the company was honored to have played a role in creating a three parties venture.
