DHL eyes cross-strait links

John Mullen, chief operating officer for the Asia-Pacific region at DHL, said direct links between Taiwan and China "will benefit everybody." "Certainly it will benefit customers and it will benefit our industry and we would see it as a positive," Mullen said. But cross-strait direct links are not vital to DHL's business, however, Mullen said, adding that infrastructure on the ground is far more important than direct links, and that diverting some cargo traffic through a third area does not impose a great burden -- thought it does add costs to the air cargo company and its customers in Taiwan. Mullen made the remarks yesterday in Taipei. He said South Korea and "Greater China," including China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, will account for 40 percent of DHL's Asia-Pacific business this year. DHL is celebrating its 30th year in Taiwan this year by completing two new shipping centers, one in Kaohsiung and another in Taoyuan. The company has spent US$30 million over the past two years in Taiwan and over US$300 million in the Asia-Pacific region to further develop its infrastructure, Mullen said. China is by far the fastest growing market, he added, with growth of around 40 percent this year. But "We see Taiwan as playing a pivotal role in our `Greater China' strategy," Mullen said.