Global postal industry looks towards future after UN meeting

International postal services are keeping pace and moving forward with the onset of globalization and advances in technology, the head of the United Nations Universal Postal Union (UPU) said today.

Wrapping up the three-week-long 24th Universal Postal Congress in Geneva, Edouard Dayan, the agency’s head, said that the tone of the industry has changed.

“Four years ago, an air of pessimism hung around the future of postal services,” he said, highlighting that today, the sector’s agenda includes e-commerce, facilitating international trade, electronic money transfers and sustainable development, among others.

Thus, the global postal service can look towards “development – rather than downsizing,” Mr. Dayan added.

During the Congress – which takes place every four years – he was re-elected by acclamation to his post, as was his Deputy, Guozhong Huang.

The more than 2,500 participants – including representatives from 179 of the UPU’s 191 member countries – discussed some 300 proposals and resolutions.

Among the most important decisions taken by the meeting was the adoption of the next world postal strategy, which centres on modernizing global postal services at all levels, ranging from institutional reform to postal security to the impact of the industry on the environment.

The UPU Quality of Service Fund, which supports projects to boost the universal postal service in developing and least developed countries, has been extended. To date, it has financed over 400 projects worth roughly $60 million.

The 2012 Universal Postal Congress of the Berne-based UPU will be held in Doha, Qatar.