Governments should use next month’s Universal Postal Congress to share their vision of how thepostal sector should develop in future in response to urgent challenges, Edouard Dayan, director
general of the Universal Postal Union, said today.Speaking just weeks ahead of the 25th Universal Postal Congress, which runs from September 24to October 15 in Doha, Qatar, under the slogan “New world, new strategy,” the long-serving UPUchief said it was important for governments to share their vision of the postal sector with a viewto maintaining its role as a key motor of socioeconomic development and social cohesion.
“The Post is a powerful network reaching the public, and national authorities must look athow it can be used to respond to some of the issues they face today,” says Dayan, who leaves hispost at the end of the year after eight years at the top of the intergovernmental organisation.
About 20 ministers from around the world, heads of international and UN organisations andpostal CEOs are scheduled to speak at a major ministerial conference on October 8 as part of theCongress. This event will explore the future role of postal services, the impact of technology and “ the world in 2020”.
The speaker line-up includes Corrado Passera, Italy’s minister of economic development,infrastructure and transport and a former CEO of Poste Italiane, Cezar Alvarez, Brazil’s deputyminister of communication, Tatsuo Kawabata, Japan’s minister for internal affairs andcommunication, Nikolay A. Nikiforov, Russia’s minister of telecom and mass communications, MaJunsheng, director general of China’s State Post Bureau, Patrick Donahoe, chief executive officerof the world’s largest postal operator, the United States Postal Service, as well as Her RoyalHighness the Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, the United Nations special advocate for inclusivefinance for development, who speak via video link on the postal sector’s role in fostering economicand social inclusion.
“Letter-post volumes are still an important revenue source, but they are declining. Postsmust be innovative and diversify the business, and governments must give them the tools to do so,”said Dayan. “Several countries, including developing ones, are showing that a postal network thatis adapted can be a formidable tool for developing trade, financial inclusion, social cohesion andsolidarity.”
In Brazil, for example, small and medium-size businesses can more easily export goods throughthe Post thanks to a programme called Exporta Fácil. This programme has taken root in several otherSouth American countries. In Japan, the Post was a vital communication link for victims after theMarch 2011 earthquake and part of aid distribution efforts.
In addition to exploring the impact of the technological revolution and its opportunities forthe postal sector, the ministerial conference will look at the postal sector’s role in facilitatingglobal trade, especially as e-commerce develops at dramatic speed.
The conference will also explore the postal sector’s role in social and economic inclusion.Many Posts are increasingly moving into postal financial services as part of their diversificationstrategy. According to the latest UPU statistics, postal financial services account for more than17 per cent of overall postal revenues, almost 4 per cent more than a decade ago. Some one billionpeople hold savings accounts in postal financial institutions.
More than 1,500 delegates are registered to attend the full Universal Postal Congress wherean updated ‘world postal strategy’ is due to be adopted.
