Thirteen Posts from Europe and the Arab region have created a new regional organisation called“Postal Euromed” to further cooperation between countries in the Mediterranean region.
Based in Rome, the new grouping consists of the Posts of Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy,Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Monaco, Palestine, Slovenia, Syria and Turkey.
The new Euro-Mediterranean postal community was created to implement a shared policy for thepostal sector within the Mediterranean region, develop new technologies for a more efficient mailservice and establish a common platform for e-commerce. It also encourages closer collaboration inoffering financial and communication services. It is the seventeenth restricted union of theUniversal Postal Union.
The union’s main goals include defending its members’ collective interests, facilitating theexchange of knowledge, and strengthening the interoperability of postal services. In practicalterms, the body is dedicated to improving the quality of letter-post, parcel-post and moneytransfer services, the UPU explained.
The union will focus in particular on two areas, including trade development among small- andmedium-sized businesses and money transfers. One of Postal Euromed’s priorities is to cut the costof transferring money by 5% in five years.
The agreement was signed during the organisation’s first general assembly, held in theheadquarters of Poste Italiane in Rome this week. The signatory countries have elected PostalEuromed’s Board of Directors, with representatives from France, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon andMalta.
Sherif Battisha, Deputy Chairman of Egypt Post, was appointed as the Chairman of the Board forthe three-year period 2011-2013. Stefano Gori, Poste Italiane’s head of international businessstrategy, was assigned the role of General Secretary of the organisation. He will be responsiblefor providing full support for the Board in drawing up the three-year Strategic Plan and managingprojects in the sector, to be presented to major European and international funding institutions,such as the World Bank, the European Commission and Inframed.
UPU Director General Edouard Dayan welcomed the creation of this new organisation covering theEuro-Mediterranean area which is an important region for the development of communication andtrade. “Postal services must be part of the plan to create a zone of peace and prosperity on bothshores of the Mediterranean,” he said during his speech at the international conference inRome.
“The main challenge is to optimise the postal sector’s full potential for the economicdevelopment of countries throughout the Mediterranean,” Dayan added.
As for money transfers, Posts in the Mediterranean zone could help to improve services and lowertransaction costs. According to the European Investment Bank, €7 billion are sent from Europe toeight Mediterranean countries each year. This amount is greater than the total net foreign directinvestment and public development aid flows going to these same countries, the UPU chief noted.
According to Article 8 of the UPU Constitution, member countries or their designated operatorsare allowed to set up regional postal communities, known as restricted unions.
Several Latin American Posts have already had considerable success with postal network exportprojects, and the UPU wants to help other regions implement similar models.
Poste Italiane CEO Massimo Sarmi, who opened the proceedings of the conference in Rome,commented: “Postal Euromed represents an important means of supporting and promoting forms ofpartnership between Mediterranean countries in the logistics, technology and financial sectors.Cooperation in the Mediterranean has been a priority for Poste Italiane for many years, astestified by the numerous agreements drawn up with postal operators in Egypt and Lebanon withregard to infrastructure and technological innovation, advanced payment systems, digital servicesand mobile telephony.”
