As a leading logistics provider, DHL Express has a number of products and services designed to support the region’s growing SME sector enabling them to meet the challenges of internationalization head on.

These products include Webship; shipping online using a credit card without the need to open an account and MyDHL; an online portal which has many functionalities such as sending, managing and tracking shipments to name a few, says Geoff walsh, country manager, DHL Express, Saudi Arabia.

DHL Express is the world’s leading logistics company and a global leader in the logistics industry and “the Logistics company for the world”.

DHL commits its expertise in international express, air and ocean freight, road and rail transportation, contract logistics and international mail services to its customers.

A global network composed of more than 220 countries and territories and more than 70,000 employees’ worldwide offers customers superior service quality and local knowledge to satisfy their supply chain requirements.

DHL has been a pioneer in the Middle East logistics industry for more than 30 years and currently has more than 250 service centers and service points across 19 countries in the region and employs over 4,400 employees across the Middle East.

According to DHL. the Middle East business landscape has long been characterised by small to medium enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are the lifeblood of regional commerce and the backbone economic activity in Saudi Arabia.

With SMEs currently accounting for around 90 percent of Saudi Arabia’s business landscape the sector is a vital driver of the country’s economic growth and development.

In a recent DHL study, produced in conjunction with IHS, the leading global source of information and analytics, it was discovered that those SMEs that trade internationally are likely to perform better than their single market counterparts.

The study also discovered a growing trend toward internationalization among SMEs. The research revealed an increasing pace of globalization and a sharper international focus among smaller businesses.

Of the SMEs surveyed, some 26 percent of companies trading internationally significantly outperformed their market, in contrast to only 13 percent of those with operations only in their home country.

SMEs typically employ nearly half of a given national work force (around 35 percent -45 percent); contributing 30 percent to 40 percent of national value add, according to the IHS research.

In spite of this contribution to national economies, they remain relatively poorly understood.

By clearly demonstrating how those forward-looking SMEs which adopt internationalization as a driver for business performance we hope the study may inspire other SMEs to expand operations overseas.

According to findings of an in-depth study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on behalf of DHL Express, the majority of SMEs see growth opportunities internationally and expect to derive up to 50 percent of their revenues internationally in five years’ time but trading across borders can be a time-consuming, complex and a risky business.

The study also reveals that severe obstacles remain for smaller businesses with global aspirations, these challenges include political instability, cultural factors, different market environments and inadequate infrastructures.