In the first part of December, FESCO Transportation Group delegates convened with both local and international partners, reaching a consensus on the advancement of collaborative efforts. The purpose of the meetings is to increase presence in the 1520 space as well as in Vietnam's transportation sector in Southeast Asia (SEA).
Bilateral cooperation
During their official visit to Vietnam at the beginning of December, FESCO leaders decided to work with SP-ITC marine terminal (Ho Chi Minh Port) to increase container transportation cooperation between Russia and Southeast Asian nations. Nguyen Thai Quang, CEO of ITC Corporation, which incorporates SP-ITC, and Andrey Severilov, Chairman of the Group's Board of Directors, signed the pertinent letter of intent.
The agreements state that the parties will work to increase the amount of containers shipped through the SP-ITC terminal from Russia as well as from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, and other nations in the region. The partners will also support one another in developing new commercial relationships in Vietnam and Russia.
“Expanding collaboration with SP-ITC creates even more prospects for FESCO's growth, not just in Vietnam but throughout Southeast Asia. In just 18 months, our FVDL maritime service has emerged as a vital conduit for non-resource trade between Russia and Vietnam," stated Andrey Severilov, FESCO's Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Andrey Severilov states that the business intends to increase the number of container services in the area and create new destinations in the SEA in the near future. As a result, FESCO has already declared that its own office in Ho Chi Minh City will open.
Recall that the two businesses began working together last spring with the opening of the FESCO VIETNAM DIRECT LINE (FVDL), a regular marine line that connected Vladivostok with the ports of Vietnam. Three container ships currently provide this service, and cargoes are now made every week instead of only once a month.
More than 30,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) have already been transported by the Group between Russia and Vietnam since the opening of the FVDL line. Of these, roughly 16.5 thousand TEU were delivered in the import direction and 13.5 thousand TEU in the export direction.
FESCO first inked a partnership arrangement with SP-ITC and then with the Russian-Vietnamese Guild of Commerce. The parties will create a transit system connecting Vietnam and Russia. In order to attain optimal outcomes, the collaborators will carry out a collaborative marketing study aimed at identifying prospective cargo carriers along the Vietnam - Russia - Vietnam route, as well as an extensive evaluation of logistical services connecting the two nations. Additionally, a thorough observation of the current transit on this route will be conducted.
Transportation connectivity
During the official visit of the Group's delegation to Uzbekistan this week, on December 12, Andrey Severilov met with Akmal Kamalov, Chairman of the Board of UzheldorContainer (part of UTY), and Abdumalik Kamiljanov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Uzbekistan Railways (UTY).
Following the meeting, the parties decided to start direct container service between Moscow and Tashkent. The parties also decided to collaborate on additional transit routes that would use FESCO multimodal services to pass through Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, and other African and Mediterranean nations.
FESCO currently accounts for 35% of all container shipping from Russian Far Eastern ports to Uzbekistan. This channel is crucial for the republic's import of goods and export of its own items to international markets. 13.6 thousand TEU were shipped to Uzbekistan in the first ten months of this year under the auspices of our FESCO Tashkent Shuttle service, which links Vladivostok and Tashkent,” Andrey Severilov stated earlier during the meeting with Botirjon Asadov, Uzbekistan's Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Russia.
It should be mentioned that the FESCO Group Chairman of the Board of Directors participated in the scientific and expert forum “Primakov Readings” at the end of November, outlining the potential for collaboration with African partners. Andrey Severilov underlined that the company wanted to create new logistics channels with the African continent and broaden the geographic scope of its own offerings.
The company is specifically starting a direct maritime line that will travel from Alexandria, Egypt, to Novorossiysk and back. This route will mostly carry refrigerated freight. Six days or so will pass during transit.
Additionally, FESCO plans to set up a feeder container line with an emphasis on cross-African shipping. Through container transshipment in a logistics center the business proposes to construct at one of the Egyptian ports, it will be connected to the Group's maritime services from China and India to Novorossiysk and St. Petersburg.
Furthermore, FESCO gives the North-South corridor's growth particular consideration. ITC may eventually be one of the primary routes for the development of a shared logistics and transit area connecting the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and the EAEU member states.
"Africa has enormous potential to rank among the world economy's primary growth regions. Andrey Severilov says, "We are prepared for close cooperation with businesses from various African countries because we see real opportunities for development on this continent.
Sergey Volkov