SINGAPORE – Parcel delivery giant FedEx Express opened its new regional headquarters for the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region in Singapore on Feb 27.
The office, which spans 2,694 sq m, is located at Centennial Tower in Temasek Avenue.
FedEx AMEA president Kawal Preet said: “Singapore’s geographic advantages make it a natural gateway, which allows us to tap the immense opportunities presented by the fast-moving markets of the region, especially in South-east Asia.”
Singapore is also home to the FedEx South Pacific hub for its operations across South-east Asia and the FedEx Life Science Centre. The Republic houses FedEx’s Centre of Excellence for Data Analytics and its Asia Pacific Security Operations Centre as well.
Across the AMEA region, the courier has about 35,000 employees and serves about 100 countries and territories.
In May 2023, Bloomberg reported that FedEx was planning to move its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters to Singapore from Hong Kong, citing an e-mailed statement where the group said it would consolidate some AMEA headquarters functions in the Republic.
When asked about this in an interview with The Business Times, Ms Preet said: “(The Hong Kong headquarters) was for Asia-Pacific.”
She clarified that the team in Hong Kong now supports North Pacific and China operations.
Ms Preet, whose career with FedEx began in 1997 as an associate engineer in Singapore, pointed out that AMEA was a “newly created region” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“If you look at what’s going to drive the growth in Asia, it’s really China, India and Asean,” she said. “So being located in Singapore gives us a unique advantage to capture the growth potential that we see in the region.”
BT understands that less than 15 per cent of FedEx’s management team is moving from Hong Kong to Singapore.
“We have moved a select group of (our) strategic leadership team, which is less than 15 per cent of our strategic leadership team... And those are specifically team members who have AMEA responsibilities,” said Ms Preet.
“There is significant talent that is still based in Hong Kong,” she added, pointing out that there are close to 12,000 employees based in Hong Kong and China.
In January, FedEx inaugurated its China headquarters in Shanghai.
It has about 11,000 employees in China.
Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who attended the inauguration ceremony at the Singapore office on Feb 27, said: “This move is a vote of confidence in Singapore as a key global hub for trade, logistics and connectivity, and the key role that Singapore plays in strengthening the resilience of global supply chains.”
Also at the ceremony was United States Ambassador to Singapore Jonathan Kaplan.
He said: “Singapore continues to be a central location for major US businesses, a leading logistics hub that helps anchor many of the world’s critical supply chains.
“The FedEx decision to open this facility is emblematic of the strong bilateral economic cooperation between the US and Singapore.”
