Aljeda is a company veteran who has worked with Aramex since 1994. Over the years, he served as regional CEO in Europe, North America as well as Asia. In 2020 he also served as Aramex’s interim chief operating officer.

With regard to his appointment as CEO, he said, “Aramex is a trusted market leader with a powerful growth story and is well-positioned to navigate and thrive in these unprecedented times.

“Along with the rest of the management team, we will continue to build on our solid foundation, capitalise on our strengths, grow our industry verticals, and take the lessons we learned from the pandemic to find the most innovative solutions and create greater value for our customers.”

Aramex said in a statement to Dubai Financial Market, (DFM) that Obeid is leaving his job for personal reasons, however, he will return as an advisor. He resigned after working for Aramex for 28 years.

Recently, Aramex also revealed that it has suffered a 32 percent drop in net profits for the first quarter of 2021. Profits dropped to Dh46.01 million in the first quarter. Its profit in the first quarter of 2020 was Dh67.41 million.
Obeid said, “The decline in operating profit and EBITDA was impacted by an increase in line haul costs on the back of global capacity constraints caused by supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic.”

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In this regard, Robert Zhang, President of UDA Express – Middle East and North Africa told the media, “EZDubai’s strategic location, its advanced logistics facilities, optimal business solutions, and capabilities that cater to all sorts of companies will consolidate our objective of becoming the premier international logistics and express delivery service provider in the Middle East. We are confident that through our new expansion, the company will complete its networking in the Middle East and link up with our existing network in China, providing direct and efficient logistics solutions to customers in China and the Middle East.”

UDA Express controls 59 self-operated distribution centres in China across 3,835,000 square metres and more than 30,000 stores across 30 countries.

Earlier this month, SEKO Logistics expanded its horizon in China by leveraging its private equity investor – Ridgemont Equity Partners, according to the media. An existing warehouse of SEKO will be expanded with a fulfilment centre in Shenzhen. This refurbished warehouse will provide cross-dock and export services along with climate and humidity controlled zones to fulfil high-value-ecommerce shipments. This increases SEKO’s capacity by 400 percent to 250,000 parcels a day.

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The offering is expected to comprise 199,000,000 new shares issued by Tristar as well as up to 88,760,000 existing shares to be sold by shareholders.

Earlier this year, UAE-based IQ Robotics, which is a part of the IQ Fulfillment group, is joining hands with China’s LiBiao Robotics to boost the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s logistics sector. Both parties will collaborate to make further advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, to prepare the economy for a contactless future.

In this regard, Xia Huiling, chief executive officer of LiBiao Robotics told the media, “The MENA region is a very important market globally as it connects Asia and Europe. It’s well-known that the MENA ecommerce market is growing rapidly and has accelerated even more during the global pandemic.

“We believe that it will keep growing for the coming decade and this opens a huge scope for automatic applications with robots. IQ Robotics is a leading robotic company in this region and a pioneer in MENA which makes it a win-win scenario as we will now work closely for shared success in the regional market. We are looking forward to shape the future together with IQ Robotics.”

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According to Fetchr, investors that participated in its funding round include BECO Capital, Tamer Group, CMA CGM and its logistics arm CEVA Logistics.

Fetchr revealed that it plans to raise another $10 million by the end of the year.

The funds will be used by the company to expand to China, US, the UK and other European markets and also diversify its revenue stream.

In a statement, the company said, “The support of these strategic investors will enable Fetchr to grow its top-line, diversify its revenues and expand its operational footprint. They have backed the company during its painstaking transformation period and will be key partners in the company’s future.”

“Investors are confident of Fetchr’s credible plan to reach break-even earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) by the latter part of 2020, after a 77 percent improvement in group EBITDA that has been achieved already. They see value in its revenue diversification strategy for different product lines. ”

During the month of July, Fetchr secured $15 million in fresh funding to expand in Saudi Arabia.

Last year, the logistics company was considering selling the business or filing for bankruptcy due to a rapidly diminishing financial performance. However, it managed to turn corners and change its fortune.

According to media reports, the company was saved by a $10 million it raised in bridge finance, which diluted existing shareholders to almost zero.

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iMile will use the funding to further expand its business in Middle Eastern markets such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt, as well as expand its workforce.

Reportedly, the funding round for iMile was led by an unnamed venture capital firm active in the Chinese logistics market.

With regard to the fresh funding round, founder and chief executive at iMile, Rita Huang told the media, “Improving iMile’s tech prowess, customer experience and hiring new talent are our top priorities in the coming months. Some analysts say that logistics is out-of-fashion now but as a next-generation company, we see massive potential.”

“Our aim is to develop local solutions and technology to address regional needs. An indigenous R&D centre would also promote knowledge and capacity building in the region. This funding will enable us to continue our work of creating innovative last-mile solutions and scale our business.”

Currently, iMile operates in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It has two R&D centres in China and the startup is planning a third in the Middle Eastern region.

Established in 2017, iMile facilitates the movement of goods from a transportation hub to the final destination as fast as possible. Its list of clients includes Amazon, Mumzworld and Noon.

iMile also offers warehouse and fulfillment facilities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Currently, the company has around 700 employees across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and China.

According to UK-based Brandessence Market Research, the last mile delivery market is forecast to reach $61.57 billion over the next five years, almost double of $31.19 billion in 2018. It is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 10.2 percent.

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The emirate is ranked ninth after Shanghai in the second position followed by Amsterdam in the third position. Singapore attained the top ranking for import and export business coupled with a well-established logistics ecosystem and an easy access to markets. However, Dubai has outperformed many global cities in logistics, cost and market connectivity. 

Movinga is a German online platform specialising in relocation. 

According to the study, San Francisco is the best city to establish a tech startup, while London and New York take second and third place respectively. While many global cities with affordable real estate are favourable for opening a new restaurant — it can be hard to find good manpower in those places. Another factor to consider is cities where the locals can afford eating out but do not have a restaurant culture versus cities where affordability of eating out is quite low.

Earlier this month, Dubai and LinkedIn collaborated for the launch of Open for Business’ that enables freelancers and SME lenders to add their services to their LinkedIn profiles. This global feature was launched in Dubai owing to its evolving entrepreneurial ecosystem. In 2016, Dubai was ranked among the top five cities for entrepreneurship, according to a real estate firm Knight Frank.  

Dubai is committed to support entrepreneurship through economic expansion that facilities business activities and attracts talent. Four future oriented labs were established in the emirate to focus on aviation, entrepreneurship, blockchain and energy. Dubai’s robust infrastructure ecosystem allows SMEs to thrive — helping establish itself as a global hub for entrepreneurship and innovation. 

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The World Logistics Passport will offer a host of benefits through operational and financial services for shipping and business firms. This is possible by establishing a link between government entities such as Dubai Customs and Dubai Trade with logistics providers such as DP World and Dnata. 

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, told the media that, “Dubai’s sophisticated logistics services will further enhance its value offering for investors and businesses by saving time and effort and reducing their operational costs. This is a powerful tool that will eventually lead to increased revenues. We are keen to offer investors and businesses new advantages in conducting global trade.”

In March, the Dubai Silk Road strategy was approved. The strategy’s vision is to establish a global strategic trade link. It has nine initiatives and 33 projects that will lead to a collaboration between Emirates airline, Dubai Airports, Dubai South, Dubai Free Zones Council, Dubai Maritime City Authority , Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, DP World, Dubai Municipality and Jebel Ali Free Zone. 

The World Logistics Passport will play a significant role in promoting the Dubai Silk Road strategy and integrated transport systems. The strategy will offer state-of-the-art logistics services using smart applications. 

Dubai’s logistics sector is expected to offer value to investors and businesses by lowering operational costs and increasing revenue in the long-run. 

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