DHL Global Forwarding, leading provider of air, sea and road freight services in Europe and Asia, has appointed Charles Kaufmann as Chief Executive Officer for North Asia and he will continue to head Value Added Services for Asia Pacific with this appointment effective from 1 August 2015. In his new role, Charles will be responsible for North Asia market operations which cover Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan. He will continue to report directly to Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific.
According to Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, “North Asia’s exports have become a major engine of growth for the global economy: exports from both South Korea and Taiwan have hit all-time highs in 2014[1], driven by key industries like consumer electronics and automobiles that demand safe, timely and industry-unique logistics solutions to stay competitive. For emerging markets like Mongolia, where foreign investments have hit consistent highs of US$16 billion (Euro 14 billion) per quarter since mid-2014[2], core export industries – like mining, which accounts for nearly 90 percent of all export revenues in 2014[3] – will require scalable and high-volume logistics networks to reach their full potential.”  “Covering a range of economies from primary industry producers to highly sophisticated technology and services markets, North Asia demands highly nuanced approaches to trade and logistics. Charles is an experienced leader with a proven track record representing DHL in North Asia. With his in-depth knowledge of the region, we are confident that he will be able to lead the next wave of growth for us,” Kelvin added. “Freight is a thriving business in North Asia and DHL Global Forwarding is very committed to the development of this sector in countries we operate in. North Asia has enormous growth potential and we will see business flourish in the years to come. I am very excited to pave the way for DHL to reach higher peaks and lead a passionate team that is devoted to expanding our operations in the North Asia global forwarding industry,” said Charles.  Having spent more than 40 years in the logistics industry, Charles has rich experience conducting business in North Asia and is very familiar with the industry landscape in the region. He was appointed CEO for Japan and Korea in 2006, before becoming the Chief Operating Officer for North Asia Pacific in 2011. He managed air freight operations, implemented cost-efficient purchasing and pricing policies to achieve strong year-on-year revenue growth and set new standards of operational excellence across the 21 countries he was responsible for. In 2012, Charles became Head of Air Freight and Value Added Services in DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific where he strengthened freight forwarding activities and the multimodal network in the region. Most recently, Charles held the role of Senior Vice President, Operations and Value Added Services for Asia Pacific. He was driving the operations of all DHL Global Forwarding products in Asia Pacific with a strong focus on cost optimization. He will continue to develop Value Added Services as part of this new role. He currently sits on the Asia Pacific Management Board for DHL Global Forwarding.