UPU continues to meet global postal sector's needs

14.05.2012 - As the only representative of the global postal industry, the UPU is well placed to serve the current and future needs of the sector, its deputy director general, Guozhong Huang, recently told Posts from industrialized countries.

 “At the end of the day, customers will use the service providers offering the best quality and security,” Huang added. The UPU would continue to closely monitor economic, social and market developments and to prepare its members to respond effectively to future challenges and changing customer needs, said the deputy director general.

Speaking on May 11, Huang reminded delegates that the development of .post, the UPU’s top-level domain for the postal sector, was well underway. This would pave the way for providing innovative postal services and support the integration of physical, electronic and financial services.

New doors

Despite the financial crisis and the rise of new communications technology negatively impacting the traditional business, Huang said new doors were opening for Posts. “The first sign [of the internet era] was a drop in traditional letter-mail volumes as a result of substitution by email and mobile phones,” Huang explained.

However, e-commerce would increasingly provide more business for Posts. Financial services provider JP Morgan estimates that global e-commerce could be worth more than 900 billion USD in 2012. “Online sales are growing, as are small packets and parcels volumes,” Huang said. Recent UPU statistics show that international parcel volumes reached 43.6 million in 2010.

The deputy director general emphasized that the UPU would not rest on its laurels. “There is still room for the development of services, such as e-signatures, electronic notification of deliveries, online address changes, registered electronic mail, electronic customs documents and digital identities,” he added.

Huang was speaking at the International Postal Corporation’s annual conference in Shanghai, China. This private company’s shareholders are 24 postal operators from industrialized countries. 

Source :  http://news.upu.int