Nippon Express Co., Japan's largest distribution service provider, dedicated an international logistics center in the free economic zone in the port city of Busan on Friday, paving the way for the company to strengthen its operations in Northeast Asia.

The company held a ceremony with the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority to launch the center. Nippon Express injected 2.77 billion won ($2.4 million) into the project with work starting in August of last year. The facility has a floor area of 16,234 square meters on a site of 33,738 square meters.


Nippon Express is a global logistics leader which has a presence in 257 cities of 42 countries.

The Busan warehouse has already secured a container cargo backlog of 68,240 TEUs, or 20-foot equivalent units, to be handled by 2018, and is expected to receive additional cargo from its affiliated companies and overseas shippers, brightening the prospects for the new port of the coastal city.

 The new logistics center will "help give a boost to the local economy as well as serve as a hub of cargo transported in the Northeast Asian region," the Free Economic Zone Authority said in a statement.

Among the participants at the launching ceremony were Jin Yang-hyun, head of the economic zone's operator, and Nippon Express President Kenji Watanabe. (Yonhap)