Specials - ITJ | Transport Journal

24 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Special International Transport Journal 35-36 2013Kazakhstan – a promising marketLuxury logisticsAliya Mussina, the head of A.R.T. Logistics in Kazakhstan, talks to the ITJabout importing fashion and luxury goods into Kazakhstan.Mrs Mussina, A.R.T. Logistics currently has six affiliates. How importantis the branch in Almaty (Kazakhstan)?We’ll soon have seven branches, you know! A new office is opening inChengdu (China) in September. Our Almaty centre was the first affiliateA.R.T. Logistics established and I would say that, in the light of thelocal opportunities open to us, it plays strategic role for the company.Aliya Mussina manages the ART Logistics branch in Almaty,which was established as the firm’s Central Asian hub in 2005.Photo: ART LogisticsWhat services does your company offer in Kazakhstan itself, aswell as in the neighbouring countries?The country’s logistics sector is developing as rapidlyas Kazakhstan’s imports, which grew by 21% last year.A.R.T. Logistics is well-known as a LTL and container logisticsspecialist, and last year we introduced a new multimodalfreight service, connecting Singapore, Malaysia,Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand with Kazakhstan andCentral Asia. Cargo is shipped from regional ports, androuted through China by rail, from the northeasternport of Lianyungang to Dostyk, the Kazakh border,and then to Almaty, as well as onwards to Uzbekistan,Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. Our second new link is anairfreight service carrying imported European fashionproducts and luxury goods to Kazakhstan, for whichwe’ve also designed and implemented a unique localhandling and document formalisation option.How big is the Kazakh luxury goods segment?The local luxury goods market is worth around USD 900million annually – and its growing strongly. Globalbrand names have opened many new shops in Kazakhstan.Our jewellery and fashion customers require thesecure and time-definite delivery of their products.Is airfreight the solution of choice in this field?Airfreight plays a critical role for all high-value products,particularly for medical equipment, telecommunicationequipment and luxury goods, as well as for heavyliftoperations in the oil and gas industry.connecting Worlds.Whether heavy lift from the Netherlands to Tajikistan orhigh tech from Germany to Russia: For every project,the cooperation between our country units is minutelycoordinated to run. Make use of the dense Militzer &Münchnetwork of 100 locations in over 30 countries and convinceyourself of our precision.www.mumnet.comHow do you cope with the security challenges?Inbound cargo is under video surveillance from the momentit lands. The goods are transported to customersin bullet-proof trucks. Importing such products requirescertification and coordination between various governmentdepartments. In Kazakhstan, every item of jewelleryhas to be assayed, certified and stamped by the assayoffice. These kind of services are still in their infancy inthe country, and not many companies can supply them.What developments do you expect in this segment?The retail sector is growing exponentially in Kazakhstan.In the next few years there is going to be increasinglystrong demand for foreign brands, because peoplein Kazakhstan are keen to buy the original article.www.art-businessgroup.com