I am Shin Yamashita who has been appointed as the president of KWE-Kintetsu World Express (Thailand) Co., Ltd. as of May 2019. KWE-Kintetsu World Express (Thailand) Co., Ltd. is a local subsidiary of Kintetsu World Express, Inc. which has a parent company named Kintetsu Railway Co.,Ltd. Although current Thailand economic situation, mainly in the manufacturing industry, is in recession, we will provide new services with imagination and marketing capabilities that fully utilize the potential of Thailand as a hub for Southeast Asia.

Thailand has been increasing its presence as a manufacturing hub in recent years

This is the third time that I have been assigned to Thailand, but it has been seven years since my last assignment.

During this seven years, I feel that Thailand has been developed a lot together as a manufacturing hub and as also the international tourist city.

As society has matured, attitudes toward service, consumption and labor have become more advanced. While it creates quality consumers and workers, it also leads to higher prices and higher wages. I guess these past few years were the time that the foundations of society and industry have undergone major changes.

Global companies and new companies are shifting to Southeast Asia and Thailand one after another

Economy in Thailand has been slowing down lately due to the global economic downturn triggered by the U.S.-China trade war, however there are many industries gathered and grown steadily from the past until today so the Thailand's industrial base is solid. And in a future, surely the economic situation of Thailand will recover. Although it is a time to be patient now, we must always consider the future and consider what we can do when the economic will recover.

One example is the shift of production bases from China to Southeast Asia, triggered by the US-China trade war. We believe that many companies considering relocation from China, as well as global companies that already have a base in Thailand, will consider Thailand as one of the relocation destinations.

The movement has already started, and we are facing challenges on how to respond to these new market trend.

KWE aims for more flexible service structure through collaboration of air freight and sea freight

To respond to this trend, we are reviewing our sales organization. We will review the internal structure of air freight and sea freight as a single sales organization, which used to be divided into transport modes. We will strive to strengthen our organizational and sales capabilities by having horizontal coordination through vertically divided sales organizations. By doing so, we believe that we can further strengthen our ability to offer proposals to customers.

At the time of my last assignment around 2005, I had felt that Singapore and Malaysia were still one or two steps ahead of Thailand as a hubs and as a manufacturing bases in Southeast Asia. Over the past few years, Thailand has steadily occupied a solid position in Southeast Asia, particularly in the manufacturing industry.

And our company is looking for and will be delighted if we can support and to be a part of expanding the logistics field in Thailand in the future.

Profile of Shin Yamashita
President: Joined the company in 1994. Mainly worked at the import section and handled products such as semiconductors. Assigned to Thailand twice, as a trainee and a sales representative. In May 2019, assigned as president of the local company. Hobby is running. Participated in the previous Bangkok marathon. In January 2020, he and his staff, as a KWE team, will participate in the Ekiden (long distance relay road race) Tournament to be held in Ayutthaya.

If you would like more information about the transportation services offered by KWE in Thailand, please contact us via the contact form below.