DHL, the world’s leading express and logistics company, has been named Best Express Operator for the 20th consecutive year at the prestigious ‘2006 Asian Freight & Supply Chain Awards’. In late April, DHL-Sinotrans, its joint venture in China, was also awarded Best Call Center at the ‘International Contact Center & CRM Conference China 2006’ (ICC China 2006). These top-level industry awards, in addition to the numerous industry accolades it has garnered, strongly reflect DHL’s market leadership and service excellence in its express and logistics offerings in China and Asia Pacific.

The Best Express Operator award is in recognition of the superior value proposition that DHL provides its customers and is a clear indication of customers’ confidence in DHL’s flexible and reliable express delivery solutions. DHL is the only company to have won the Best Express Service (renamed Best Express Operator in 2003) award since the ‘Asian Freight Industry Awards’ – the predecessor of the AFSCA – was inaugurated in 1987.

At AFSCA 2006, DHL was also recognized in 5 other categories: Best Lead Logistics Provider (4PL), Best 3PL, Best Air Freight Forwarder, Best All Cargo Airline, and Best Air Cargo Carrier - Europe. Together, the awards cement DHL’s unrivalled “one-stop shop” ability to offer customized end-to-end express and logistics solutions across all industries.

Being the biggest conference of its kind in Asia-Pacific, ‘International Contact Center & CRM Conference China 2006’ attracted many authoritative experts, market opinion leaders and professionals from the call center community. DHL-Sinotrans was awarded Best Call Center in 2006 – the second consecutive year it has picked up this award. In addition to Best Call Center, DHL-Sinotrans also walked away with two additional awards –Best Call Center Manager and Best Call Center Agent in 2006.

“We are extremely honoured to receive these accolades,” said Scott Price, Chief Executive Officer, DHL Express Asia Pacific. “These awards speak volumes of our commitment to respond to the evolving needs of our customers across all markets. We will continue to strengthen our extensive networks and infrastructure and service offerings in the region to continue to provide a full suite of innovative, industry-shaping supply chain solutions for our customers.”

“The ICC China 2006 awards are a significance testimony and tribute to our customer service team,” noted Wu Dongming, Managing Director of DHL-Sinotrans. “The awards mark the recognition of our customers and industry professionals in China for our sustained efforts in achieving best-in-class customer service. We will continue to further improve our customer service in all aspects and provide high efficient and value-added services to satisfy the most demanding of customer needs.”

These awards follow DHL-Sinotrans’ latest developments in China, including the recent launch of its First in China strategy on 17 April during the kick-off of DHL-Sinotrans’ 20th anniversary. DHL has, since 2003, invested almost US$300 million to reinforce its market leadership position in China, and new initiatives this year include the construction of a new DHL-Sinotrans headquarters in Beijing and increasing the number of branches from 56 to 72.