By Maria Kalamatas | August 5, 2025
Manila, August 5 — It didn’t come with a press release. No champagne. No drone shots over a new facility. Just a plain metal sign above a warehouse gate in Taguig, where the doors slid open before sunrise on Monday. That’s how Gebrüder Weiss arrived in the Philippines.
“We’re not here to make noise,” said a man who only introduced himself as Ramon, one of the local logistics coordinators. “We’ve got trucks to load, not photos to take.”
The Austrian logistics company, one of the oldest in Europe, has now set up shop in Manila. Quiet, maybe. But strategic? Definitely.
A local team, a real operation
This isn’t a virtual office. It’s a working site. Forklifts move. Calls come in. Freight goes out.
Inside, a small crew of Filipino staff — some ex-DHL, others from port agencies — are already at work. They’re handling ocean freight, customs, and short-haul routing across Luzon. It’s still early days, but the rhythm is already there.
“They hired people who actually know the ports,” said a delivery driver waiting outside. “Not just guys with laptops.”
The office is modest. No glass towers. But it connects directly to the company’s broader network in Southeast Asia. That’s the whole point.
Why now, and why here?
The answer isn’t complicated. The Philippines is growing. Factories are moving in. Warehouses are filling up. Importers need alternatives to crowded hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong. Someone had to step in.
And Gebrüder Weiss did — without the fanfare.
“They’re not rushing,” said a logistics advisor in Makati. “They’re placing pieces on the board. Quietly. But precisely.”
No promises, just patience
There’s no talk of market dominance. No five-year targets painted on the walls. The staff here seem more focused on answering emails than giving interviews.
One junior manager put it simply: “We’re just trying to get it right.”
There’s no regional HQ yet. No expansion team. But there’s a warehouse that runs, phones that ring, and trucks that show up. In the world of freight, that counts.
A beginning, not a launch
If there’s a plan, it’s long-term. Build trust. Deliver on time. Avoid shortcuts. And most importantly, listen.
“We’re new here,” said one of the supervisors, checking a bill of lading. “We don’t pretend to know everything. That’s why we hired locals.”
In logistics, things rarely go viral. But this — this feels real.
