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FedEx Express to expand its operations in Clark five-fold
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This will allow the facility to operate as a transshipment point for packages
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FedEx is looking to initiate Phase 2 of its project in Clark soon
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The express operator is working on an agreement with the Bureau of Customs related to transshipment rules
Global express transportation company FedEx Express will expand operations in Clark, Pampanga five-fold to enable it to operate as a transshipment point for packages, according to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.
Under the arrangement, all arriving packages will be sorted and reloaded back to designated planes flying to various destinations and will not pass through the Customs area, Lopez said in a statement.
He said this was taken up in a meeting among Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) officials, Presidential Adviser on Flagship Programs and Projects Vivencio Dizon, and FedEx vice president Ralph Carter on April 18.
Carter disclosed FedEx is looking ahead to initiate Phase 2 of its project in Clark at the soonest possible time.
FedEx’s Phase 1 facility has an area of 7,000 square meters (sqm).
READ: FedEx’s Clark facility boosts support for e-commerce market
Cartier stressed the need to have clear and flexible rules to ensure transit goods that come into the Philippines are not stopped and inspected.
Dizon attended the meeting to address FedEx concerns related to securing documents for the planned transshipment operations.
In February 2022, FedEx executives virtually met with Board of Investments (BOI) managing head and trade undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo to discuss FedEx’s expansion plans and to seek assistance in securing an agreement with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on transshipment rules.
DTI said BOI is collaborating with BOC on the drafting of a customs memorandum order, a prerequisite to finalizing FedEx’s investment plan.
FedEx in 2021 launched its gateway facility in Clark to boost support for businesses and the growing e-commerce market in the country.
Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the new 17,000 sqm facility is capable of sorting 9,000 parcels per hour. It has a dedicated freight-handling area covering 630 sqm.
In November 2019 FedEx announced it would expand its operations in Clark after the company left its Asian hub in Subic, Zambales in 2009 to transfer to China. The Clark facility was originally scheduled for launch in April 2021 but this was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new facility allows businesses to access FedEx’s extensive network and expand its market reach with 36 flights coming in and out weekly, connecting customers to over 220 countries and territories.
From July to October 2021, FedEx launched a total of six new flights, contributing to a total of 225 weekly flights in and out of Asia Pacific to the US and Europe.
In the same period, FedEx doubled capacity for the Philippines and other markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand by replacing 757 narrow-body freighters with 767 wide-body freighters. These aircraft have a maximum gross payload capacity of nearly 60,000 kilograms.
