Up to 500 postal experts representing more than 110 countries will meet at a top-level UPUconference in Kenya next week to debate key issues facing the world’s postal industry.
The UPS Strategy Conference, to be held at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, on 22 and 23September 2010, will examine issues such as how Posts can remain relevant in the face oftechnological advances and changing consumer behaviour, whether they should diversify theirservices more to remain competitive and generate new revenues to compensate declining letter-postvolumes, and how they can use their extensive networks to bring people out of poverty by offeringservices that promote financial inclusion.
Delegates will look for answers to these questions and more as the worldwide postal sectorredefines itself in the face of economic difficulty, the advancement of new technologies andever-evolving business and customer demands, the UPU said.
The UPU Strategy Conference is the most important event of the year for the international postalsector as it heads towards the next 2012 Universal Postal Congress in Doha, Qatar, where the 191member countries of the UN specialised agency for postal services will adopt a new world postalstrategy.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Achim Steiner,executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Kunio Mikuriya, secretary generalof the World Customs Organization, Jesús Miranda Hita, vice-minister of Spain’s ministry oftransport and public works, the secretaries general of several regional postal organizations andthe CEOs of Posts from around the world are among the high-level stakeholders who will participatein the Conference.
An important task of the Conference is to take stock on progress made in achieving the broadobjectives of the current four-year roadmap the UPU adopted at the last Universal Postal Congress,held in Geneva in 2008. The Conference will also serve as a platform for shaping the futurestrategy of the organisation and the postal sector at large.
“From a business angle, the economic crisis has precipitated trends such as the decline ofphysical mail and the need to diversify postal products and services to better meet the need ofcustomers,” said Edouard Dayan, director general of the UPU. “And from a social and developmentangle, postal services have never been more critical in helping governments bridge communicationgaps, promote financial inclusion, reduce the impact of climate change, promote health andeducation, foster trade and other issues that plague our society. These issues are at the heart ofthe United Nations Millennium Development Goals, and it will be most appropriate that the postalsector talk about its role in these issues as the UN General Assembly meets in New York to discussprogress on achieving the Millennium Goals by the 2015 deadline.”
Kenya’s minister for information and communication, Samuel Poghisio, said Kenya is pleased tohost the conference, adding that the Government recognises the postal sector’s critical role in theeconomy and its potential for improving the economic and social well-being of populations. “We arediligently working towards the provision of a supportive environment to enable citizens’ access tobasic postal services regardless of social, economic or physical barriers under the principles ofone postal territory,” says the minister. “The UPU’s Strategy Conference presents an opportunity toreflect on the possibilities of the Post for boosting our country’s economy. Postal operators,regulators and other stakeholders in developing countries need to take advantage of the currentpolicy framework to use platforms based on information and communication technologies to catalyzegrowth and develop postal services on the African continent.”
It is the first time the UPU is holding its Strategy Conference on African soil. Edouard Dayansays countries all over the continent are making tremendous efforts to strengthen their postalnetworks and bring improvements to the quality of service. The Strategy Conference is beingorganized with the kind support of the Kenyan Government and Post.
“Posts in Africa, like others, are adapting to the new business and communication environments.Major technological advances are enabling some to improve existing services and offer new ones.Innovation will be an important topic during our conference because it is a key element of Posts’ability to develop. But our global strategy also aims to reduce the development gaps that existamong Posts so that postal services worldwide deliver a consistent quality of service to retaincustomers’ trust,” he stated.
