The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has emphasised the importance of opening up international marketsto micro-, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) during the recent World Trade Organisation’s
second global review of Aid for Trade, held in Geneva.Pedro Luiz Carneiro de Mendonça, Ambassador and Under-Secretary for Economic andTechnological Affairs in the Ministry of External Relations, highlighted the achievements of theExporta Fácil programme, an initiative from the Brazilian Post which has enabled more than 10,000local businesses since 2001 to export their products more easily with the Post’s help. Other LatinAmerican countries have also adopted the Exporta Fácil concept with great success. The UPU is aboutto launch similar programmes in countries such as Thailand and Laos.
Exporta Fácil was launched on July 16, 2007, initially with World Bank help in cooperationwith Correios do Brasil, and has taken on a life of its own in recent years being exported fromBrazil to other countries. It has won over a growing number of countries and the Postal Union ofthe Americas, Spain and Portugal (PUASP), a restricted union under the UPU umbrella, thanks to itseffectiveness. In addition, it boosts the Posts‘ social cohesion role and opens up new avenues fordoing business, UPU said in a statement.
“According to our research, the results (of Exporta Fácil) have not been achieved by anyother programme facilitating trade elsewhere in the world,” said UPU Director General EdouardDayan. He added that the organisation was counting on the assistance of other partners, includingPosts, governments, regional organisations and customs, financing bodies and the WTO, to expandthis type of programme to other regions.
“In times of crisis, any solutions that assist trade, export or the development ofe-commerce, like those proposed by the UPU and the postal sector, should be supported anddeveloped,” he added.
Aid for Trade aims to expand the trade capacity of developing countries, with the help of WTOmembers and key international aid and development organisations. Delegates at this July sessiondiscussed progress made since the first meeting in November 2007.
“Postal networks offer local access to the logistics of international trade. All it takes toenable more businesses to export more goods to more places is for initiatives like Exporta Fácil inBrazil to be transposed to other countries”, Dayan concluded.
