Australian logistics player Toll Group is expanding its footprint across Asia with a newly opened local office in the Philippines, as it forecasts ‘high’ double-digit growth in the next five years.

The team in the Philippines will focus on providing logistics services to key verticals in the industrial, retail, technology, and automotive sectors, allowing local businesses to tap opportunities beyond the archipelago, including regional manufacturing value chains.

Benjamin Bathan, who was named country manager, said many freight forwarders in the Philippines operate through a partner-based model and do not own a global or regional supply chain network. This, he says, creates challenges in visibility and quality control.

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Despite the pandemic, Toll Group is confident about the Philippine market, citing an unrealised potential of US$49 billion worth of exports.

Rajeev Sood, senior vice president for ASEAN and Indian subcontinent at Toll Global Forwarding, said that uncertainty and bottlenecks involving the pandemic has made diversification of supply networks imperative for any business.

Shippers and manufacturers together with their forwarders are now taking a multimodal approach to tap other suppliers or markets to ensure business continuity and resilience.

From a business perspective, the Philippines office positions the Japan Post subsidiary for growth, as Southeast Asia transforms into a key node for global value and supply chains, particularly in e-commerce.