From Europe to the World: Forto Announces Vietnam Office, Further Strengthening Its Presence in Asia

Forto, a leading provider of digitized freight forwarding and supply chain solutions, today announced further expansion of its European and Asian operations with a new office based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. With an office in Vietnam, Forto is strategically placed to serve a burgeoning market for manufacturing and commerce. It is one of Asia's fastest growing economies, with GDP estimated to have grown 7.9% in 2019.1 In 2020, Vietnam was the 30th largest partner for EU exports of goods (0.5 %) and the tenth largest partner for EU imports of goods (2.0 %).1

Wolfgang Richt joins Forto as the new Director of the Vietnam Office. Most recently, Richt served as CEO Global Offices and Regional Managing Director Asia, for Royal Cargo Inc., managing offices across Asia, including operations in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Richt also held similar roles with Pan Asia Logistics and DHL Global Forwarding. "After so many years in the industry, I am more than excited to bring logistics into a new era of digitization with Forto,“ commented Richt. In the Forto Vietnam office, Richt has assembled an experienced team of professionals to ensure efficient operations and communications across the Forto customer supply chain. The teams in the Vietnam office support the range of Forto operations from carrier booking with origin handling to consolidation, customs clearance, and warehousing.

Since its founding in 2016, Forto has consistently delivered rapid international growth and expanded its solutions offering. The mission is to enable worldwide supply chain visibility across solution offerings and make the industry more sustainable: "Challenges such as the COVID19 crisis and the associated freight congestion have certainly not simplified global logistics. We are ready to take the next step, uniting innovative transport solutions in a more sustainable way. Forto Vietnam recently launched a rail transport initiative from Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi all the way to Central Europe which will underline our strong belief in climate neutrality by 2025 " said Eric Reuter, Vice President Forto Asia.

Leading brands across industries ranging from fashion, furniture, and electronics are working with Forto to manage the transport of their goods. Recent appointments of technology, sales, and finance experts have strengthened the leadership team. Earlier in June, the company announced that it has successfully raised $240M in an investment round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from Citi Ventures and G Squared, and strong backing from existing investors including Northzone, Inven Capital, Cherry Ventures, and Unbound. With this round, Forto’s valuation now stands at $1.2 Billion.

Sources for data: 1 https://home.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/vn/pdf/publication/2021/Make-in-vietnam-2021-and-beyond.pdf