Aramex

Fadi Ghandour co-founded Aramex shortly after receiving his BA in political science from George Washington University, with his business partner, Bill Kingson in 1982. Aramex went public on the Dubai Financial Market in February 2005. Freight Professionals and TwoWay-Vanguard. World-renowned writer and columnist Thomas Friedman used Aramex in his book, The World Is Flat, as an example of companies that benefit from what he calls "the flattening of the world." The flattening of the world is the leveling of the economic field and the destruction of "barriers to entry" to collaborate or compete globally. Expansion In February 2011, Aramex acquired OneWorld Courier and In-Time Couriers, two Kenyan courier firms. Aramex acquired Berco Express, a South African logistics firm in December 2011. PayPal partnered with Aramex in 2012. Aramex developed REDe, a solution aimed at enabling companies to begin selling their products online, in early 2012. ShopGo, an e-commerce solution, released Aramex Suite in August 2013. The module enabled e-commerce stores to automatically access several of Aramex's services. The service was launched in the Middle East and North Africa. In January 2016, Fastway Couriers, a New Zealand-based courier service with operations in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Ireland, announced that Aramex had acquired its New Zealand and Australian operations. In 2019, Aramex acquired Saudi Tal for Commerce and Contract Company to expand its operations in Saudi Arabia. In October 2021, GeoPost, the express parcel arm of French Groupe La Poste, acquired a 20.15% stake in Aramex. In November 2025, Express services in Syria were restarted for the first time after the Syrian civil war. ==Sustainability==

The company supported the Ruwwad Al Tanmeya initiative in 2006. The initiative aimed to involve the private sector in spurring community development through youth empowerment and investments in the community through education, civic engagement, and volunteering. Aramex has a twenty percent stake in Ruwwad Al Tanmeya. Aramex became the first company in the region to release an annual sustainability report in 2006. The company joined the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest global corporate citizenship initiative, in 2007. ==Controversies==

Alleged mistreatment of contractors in New Zealand Aramex has operated in New Zealand and Australia since 2016, when it acquired the operations of Fastway Couriers. These were rebranded to Aramex in 2019. Aramex competes in the New Zealand market as a low-priced alternative to New Zealand Post and Freightways-owned New Zealand Couriers and Post Haste. Aramex has a poor reputation for service in New Zealand, with recurrent reports of delayed, damaged and misdelivered parcels, as well as poor customer support from a team which is largely based overseas. Their business model has come under significant criticism from former and current employees, franchisees, labour advocates and WorkSafe, New Zealand's workplace safety advocate, with one critic calling it "destructive, exploitative and dangerous". Under this model, Aramex sells regional franchises, who in turn sell or subcontract “routes” or “territories” within their regions to individual contractor-drivers. Contractor-drivers pay their own costs, with Aramex paying a per-item fee that is set by them. These can reportedly be as low as for a parcel booked through Trade Me. Just 20% of a regional depot's revenue is split evenly between the contractor-drivers (couriers), regardless of how large their regional franchises are, which has reportedly led to significant discrepancies in income depending on their territories. The remaining 80% is divided between regional franchisees and Aramex. ==References==