Parcel Lanka expands global reach with DTDC partnership

• Parcel Lanka, already in Australia, will be able to expand to India, US, Canada, UK, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia with this partnership 
• Opportunities for local businesses, particularly small businesses, to tap into international markets

Parcel Lanka Chairman Vijay Guganathan (left) exchanges agreement with DTDC Express Chairman and Managing Director Subhasish Chakraborty. Parcel Lanka Managing Director Vithyanath Guganathan and DTDC Australia CEO and Co-Founder Pinaki Chatterjee are also present – Pic by Shehan Gunasekera 

By Divya Thotawatte 

With a vision to grow beyond Sri Lanka’s domestic market, the Colombo-based shipping and mailing service Parcel Lanka, recently partnered with DTDC, one of India’s leading integrated express logistics providers, joining the group’s extensive global network. 

The official signing of the partnership took place in the presence of notable industry figures including DTDC Australia Co-Founder and CEO Pinaki Chatterjee and DTDC Express Chairman and Managing Director Subhasish Chakraborty, marking a key milestone in Parcel Lanka’s journey towards becoming an international logistics player. 

Speaking at the event, Parcel Lanka Managing Director Vijay Guganathan outlined the objectives of this partnership.

“We are going to collaborate with a lot of fields such as the e-commerce sector. This will be with the DTDC branches in US, Canada, UK, Europe, India, Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia. We are going to work with Sri Lankan businesses who want to export their products to all these countries. With DTDC’s gateway, we are going to deliver to their doors. You can import, bring back the goods, whichever you need, from all over the world through this network. So, this opens a gateway, levelling the playing ground for all the small and medium businesses in Sri Lanka,” he said. 

Guganathan explained that even a small seller on eBay could list their products and export them worldwide, with Parcel Lanka–DTDC logistics services providing support whenever needed. With India on track to becoming the world’s third-largest economy, this partnership further offered Sri Lankan businesses a lucrative entry into its vast market. 

Additionally, with this partnership, Indian businesses could also enter the Sri Lankan market, creating opportunities and a platform for businesses of both countries, he said. 

At the event, both Chatterjee and Chakraborty welcomed Parcel Lanka into the DTDC network, with Chatterjee noting that this partnership would mark a new era of transformation within Sri Lanka’s logistics landscape. Chakraborty, too, highlighted the strategic advantages of this new partnership. 

He said, “DTDC in India has 16,400 branches and 110,000 people work in our organisations today. How much can one company benefit an economy? It’s 110,000 people in unemployment sorted out by 16,400 entrepreneurs. Now, we have moved from India to different countries. I think today, this partnership will also take Parcel Lanka from a domestic growth company to a worldwide network.” He also spoke about his journey of building a courier and logistics business from humble beginnings. Inspired by the need for reliable courier services in India, he studied the industry and was able to develop a reliable franchise model, and launched his company with just ₹70,000, raised by selling his wife’s jewellery. Now, DTDC is expanding internationally, partnering with major global logistics companies and even the French government. 

Chakraborty compared Parcel Lanka’s journey to DTDC, where the local company was already sending over 3,000kg of shipments to Australia every week. He stated that with this partnership and the subsequent support of DTDC’s 16,400 branches in India, Parcel Lanka would not stop merely from exporting to Australia, but it will also be able to expand throughout India and to the Middle East, Europe, UK, Canada, Southeast Asia, and the US as well. 

“I hope this beginning will create a lot of connectivity between these two countries. Our economy will prosper and this initiative will also create some new employment within Sri Lanka,” he said. Chakraborty further expressed his confidence in contributing to Sri Lanka’s economy, adding that while initially, he had had concerns over Sri Lanka’s economic recovery after its financial crisis, especially based on past media coverage, upon observing the country’s current progress, he believed that Sri Lanka was on a path to significant economic revitalisation.