World Logistics Passport (WLP), an initiative which aims at increasing trading opportunities between emerging markets, on Thursday announced its expansion in India, adding Hyderabad as its second hub and partnering with two GMR group's subsidiaries operating at the Hyderabad airport.
WLP entered India this year in February, signing with Mumbai International Airport, Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal and Emirates SkyCargo in India as partners.
Hyderabad is the second WLP hub registered in India, after Mumbai. The city is strategically important for the country's international exports of goods and services, totalling about USD 21 billion, according to a statement.
With trade routes to Mumbai and New Delhi, as well as to WLP's global network, Hyderabad's trade infrastructure includes Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, it said.
As one of the first countries to engage in the WLP, the expansion further consolidates India's standing in the programme, it added.
WLP Chief Executive Officer Mike Bhaskaran said, "India, as one of the first countries to engage in our programme, showed a clear commitment to thinking differently about how goods and services move round the world."
He added that the latest announcement is yet another endorsement of this new approach to global trade. "We are eyeing additional expansion in the country as we look to widen our offering."
More than 10 countries are now part of the major policy initiative. Trading nations currently include Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa, among others.
In addition, major multinational corporations including UPS, Pfizer, Sony, Johnson & Johnson, and LG are also engaged with WLP, it said.
WLP creates opportunities for business across Africa, Asia, Central and South America to improve existing trading routes, and develop new ones, through the world's first logistics loyalty programme for freight forwarders and traders.
It overcomes non-tariff trade barriers by fast-tracking cargo movement, reducing administrative costs, advancing cargo information, and facilitating movement between ports and air.