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The postal sector must embrace innovation
15.04.2015 - The UPU'’s World Strategy Conference has ended with a recognition that the postal sector is a critical actor in delivering solutions that foster inclusion.
“The UPU and Posts must change. The UPU and Posts will change. Together we will move the world,” said the UPU's Bishar Hussein
These solutions can help the international community achieve its sustainable development goals.
However, said UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein, the current postal paradigm must be broken and decision-makers at all levels – government, regulatory and operational – must embrace innovation to ensure the postal sector’s future.
“My ambition is for us to deliver together by 2020 a postal world in which our sector’s unique ability to include populations, economic actors and territories is fully recognized and exploited by governments, development partners and international organizations,” said Hussein in his concluding remarks.
“We must deliver a postal world where innovation is shared, promoted and driven – not as a luxury, but as a reality for all,” he added.
To achieve this, Hussein called for a “profound transformation” of the UPU by 2020, with quicker and more efficient decision-making processes. “The UPU and Posts must change. The UPU and Posts will change. Together we will move the world,” he said.
Discussions around inclusion and the need to innovate and strengthen collaboration among all members of the global supply chain – postal operators, transporters and customs authorities – dominated the discussions at the UPU’s two-day event in Geneva with more than 750 delegates in attendance.
“Innovation and the integration of networks, products and services are key to building a seamless postal network in line with the changing global environment,” said the director general.
E-commerce challenge
Delegates and speakers highlighted the growth of e-commerce and changing consumer habits as major challenges facing the global postal sector, with some e-tailers acknowledging they were developing their own delivery networks. Postal CEOs recognized e-commerce as an important trade enabler for small and medium-size businesses, but said postal services needed to respond adequately to this growth or risk being left behind.
Hussein said the UPU and its members were hearing the message loud and clear and promised that the organization would build on its existing e-commerce programme to increase the reliability of postal networks, the predictability of service delivery and the transparency of products and services for international customers.
With so much change happening in the areas of mobile technologies, postal financial services, logistics, e-commerce and more, delegates called for a renewed approach to how governments regulate the postal sector. “All of this [change] must be supported by enabling regulation,” noted Hussein.
Universal service obligation
The conference also highlighted the importance of the universal service obligation as an essential infrastructure supporting inclusion objectives. The global postal network of some 663,000 post offices is a key asset in extending social, financial and economic inclusion for citizens and small and medium-size businesses everywhere.
Some 750 delegates representing 135 UPU member countries, including ministers, regulators, postal executives and other postal-sector stakeholders such as leaders of labour unions, trade and migration organizations and representatives of United Nations and other international organizations, attended the Strategy Conference, which was chaired by the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire.
Insights from the conference will feed the process aimed at drafting the UPU’s next world postal strategy to be delivered at the Universal Postal Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, in September 2016.
Strategy, Geneva 2015, Organization
Posts can help bridge e-commerce divide for SMEs
14.04.2015 - The UPU and Posts have an important role to play in helping facilitate trade so that small- and medium-sized companies can take part in the global economy, said speakers on Day 2 of the World Strategy Conference in Geneva.
With their vast network of outlets – some 640,000 worldwide – and wide range of services, including digital, financial and logistics services, postal operators can help micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) become participants in the global e-commerce market.
To date, large, multinational organizations have benefitted the most from the explosive development of the e-commerce sector, according to Xiaozhun Yi, deputy director general, World Trade Organization.
But Yi and other speakers agreed there is great potential to grow SMEs, which play a vital role in many economies around the world. E-commerce can open the door to new markets and business opportunities for SMEs, while reducing their transaction costs, increasing their overall competitiveness, Yi explained.
However, the obstacles preventing SMEs from taking that step are numerous and vary from country to country. In developing countries, for example, infrastructure is often a challenge. Barriers include lack of Internet access. Lengthy customs procedures for exporting goods can also be daunting for SMEs, which cannot afford to pay a customs broker, as Sandra Davoren, Secretary General of the Caribbean Postal Union told delegates.
Arancha Gonzalez, the International Trade Centre’s executive director, believes lower trading costs are “essential” for SMEs, and are a deciding factor in whether a small business stays in its domestic market or expands abroad.
“Logistical efficiency and improvements in the facilitation of trade are essential ingredients for the competitiveness of SMEs, Gonzalez explained. “It’s very important that organizations like UPU take this and put this at the heart of the agenda.”
Peru’s SERPOST revealed its efforts in this area. In 2007, Peru launched its participation in the programme designed specifically for SMEs called Exporta Facil.
Originally a Brazilian concept, Exporta Facil enables SMEs to use online tools to cut red tape, such as electronic customs forms, through the Post. The postal operator automatically receives the information and can immediately process and dispatch the item abroad.
The service is also accessible: SMEs can send items 365 days a year at outlets throughout the country. They also benefit from lower costs, according to Friberg Quispe Grajeda, director general of SERPOST. The postal operator is also reaping benefits, with more than 18 billion USD in exports sent via Exporta Facil to date.
“E-commerce is growing and our aim as a state is to develop an instrument that facilitates the delivery of parcels to other destinations,” Grajeda told the conference.
Of course, the IT revolution has also changed other areas of business for the post. Amid declining letter volumes and booming package delivery, posts, governments and regulators are taking a closer look at universal service obligations. Different approaches are emerging throughout the world. Canada, for example, is stopping door-to-door mail delivery in favour of community mailboxes.
In Europe, where Internet and mobile penetration is high and postal networks are firmly established throughout rural and urban regions, the future focus should be on creating a better and more secure network for parcels, according to Torstein Olsen, director general of Norwegian Post and the Telecommunications Authority. “A new definition of postal services may be required,” Olsen said.
In Africa, in contrast, there is still much work to be done in terms of expanding the network of postal offices to rural areas so that all citizens have access to postal services. Ethiopia, for example, has embarked on a project in which it is transforming telecom centres in rural villages into centres that provide telecom, IT and postal services.
The lack of addressing systems is a major issue for Africa as well, according to Younouss Djibrine, secretary general of the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU). Improving infrastructure is a key pillar in PAPU’s preparations for “tomorrow’s universal postal service”, along with the diversification of services and postal regulation.
Strategy, Geneva 2015, Trade
Speakers address innovation challenges
14.04.2015 - The innovation challenge facing postal operators worldwide dominated discussions on the first day at the World Strategy Conference as postal executives, government representatives and private companies debated how to best respond and adapt to the rapid changes thrust upon the sector by technological change.
(L. to R.) Dimitry Strashnov, director general, Russian Post; Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Morocco's minister of industry, trade, investment and digital economy; Stefan Krawczyk, associate general counsel and head, government relations, eBay; Lin Hongliang, director, Asian-Pacific Postal Union; Peter Somers, moderator (Photo: UPU/Pierre Alboui)
“Together we must take stock of our organizations and the postal sector today, and shape our future tomorrow,” UPU Director General Bishar Hussein told the conference.
The rapidly expanding e-commerce sector was of particular interest during the opening day of the conference. While this sector promises great growth for postal operators, it brings many challenges as well. Consumer demands when it comes to delivery of e-commerce goods, for example, are changing quickly. As well, it is still unclear whether e-commerce giants, such as Amazon, are interested in handling last-mile delivery themselves.
“The future of commerce is a blurred landscape, where the consumer dictates how, where and when he will consume,” said Stefan Krawczyk, associate general counsel and head of government relations at eBay. “That means the delivery operators will have to adapt to what the consumer dictates.”
Postal operators are already changing the way they deliver packages, including introducing package lockers and sending delivery notifications to customers via text messages. Krawczyk, however, stressed that consumers are looking for transparency and predictability when it comes to package delivery. A seller in Europe needs to feel certain that when they send an item to a buyer in South America, it will arrive on time. They also want the service and pricing to be transparent and logical, Krawczyk added.
Dimitry Strashnov, director general of Russian Post, seconded that viewpoint. Postal operators, for example, should analyze what kind of delivery their customers need and expect. “Do we need to deliver all the parcels in one day or two days?” Strashnov asked. “Would a customer be satisfied having three-to-five day delivery but with a high predictability level. Can we deliver on the promise? This is getting more and more important today because the cost of five-day delivery is lower than one day.”
Postal operators must also be efficient to maintain their profitability, Strashnov said. This, in turn, allows them to invest in their infrastructure to create new products.
The development of new products is an important focus for postal operators worldwide. Take Saudi Post, which is leveraging its established assets such as its transportation infrastructure, last-mile delivery network, postal offices and technology to expand its range of products, according to Mohamed Saleh Ben Taher Benten, the organization’s chairman and chief executive officer. For example, Saudi Post has transformed its transportation network into a logistics network. Its NAQEL logistics joint venture, in which it holds a majority stake, provides services for many different industries in Saudi Arabia, including fashion retailers and food processors.
Another attractive area for expansion is postal financial services. In Indonesia, the government has asked the Post to conduct a pilot project called the “post savings account” in six provinces as many people in that country still store their cash at home, according to Kalamullah Ramli, Indonesia’s director general of the ministry of communication and information technology.
The development of such value-added services is what makes Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Morocco’s minister of industry, trade, investment and digital economy, optimistic about the future for his country’s postal operator.
“From my point of view, posts will continue to be profitable in coming years if they modernize,” Elalamy told the conference.
However, it’s not just the postal operators that have to adapt, but the rules as well, according to speakers at the conference. Philippe Wahl, president of France’s La Poste, said work on the development of the UPU’s global integrated postal programme, known as ECOMPRO, is necessary for the further development of the e-commerce market.
“We need to communicate and exchange information with all members from the UPU,” Wahl said. “It’s the next big step we are taking together.”
Geneva 2015, Strategy, Organization
Posts must step out of comfort zone to build their future
13.04.2015 - Bishar Hussein, director general of the Universal Postal Union, has urged the 750 delegates at the organization’s 2015 World Strategy Conference to take a critical look at how postal services are created and delivered.
Some 750 delegates from 135 UPU member countries are talking strategy in Geneva
“Let’s step out of our comfort zone and test new ideas upon which we can build the future of the Post,” said Hussein as the UPU's global meeting got underway after being officially opened by Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan of Côte d'Ivoire, the country chairing the event.
The conference starts the process of drafting the next world postal strategy to be delivered at the Universal Postal Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2016.
In a personal message, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said postal services have a clear role to play in the UN’s post-development agenda being finalized for adoption in September. “As the world shapes a new sustainable development agenda and strives to address the threat posed by climate change, postal services can and must be part of the solution.”
Postal activities increasingly focused on logistics and financial services instead of traditional mail, the growth of e-commerce and the rise of parcel volumes, and changing consumer behaviours are among various phenomena forcing public postal services to redefine themselves for the 21st century.
Changing consumer habits brought on by new technological applications is perhaps one of the greater challenges facing the postal sector.
“The modern consumer is digital, concerned with sustainable development, and has a totally different gauge for the value of a product or service,” said Hussein. “Clients today want to access services anywhere, anytime. They want products tailored to their preferred method of consumption, and they want those products to be delivered at home or right next door.”
And Posts must see this new reality as an exciting opportunity, not a constraint, added the director general.
About 135 UPU member countries are represented at the Strategy Conference, which concludes tomorrow.
Some 40 speakers are taking part in a series of panel discussions covering major themes such as the role of postal services in trade facilitation and social, financial and economic inclusion, the role of postal regulation in an ever-evolving communications market and the importance of innovation in ensuring that postal services and networks remain relevant in today’s society.
Geneva 2015, Strategy, Organization
Côte d’Ivoire Prime Minister says Posts open the world to citizens
13.04.2015 - Posts must keep improving to make their services accessible to all citizens to open new vistas for a better world, according to Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan of Côte d’Ivoire during the opening of the UPU's World Strategy Conference.
“Côte d’Ivoire wants to be one of the players for change,” Prime Minister Duncan said as he opened the World Strategy Conference.
Technology should be used to create a forward-looking postal sector, Prime Minister Duncan added, while addressing international delegates at the Geneva International Conference Centre on Monday.
“Côte d’Ivoire wants to be one of the players for change,” Prime Minister Duncan said.
His country, the official conference chair, is opting to embrace rather than ignore the sweeping changes that technology has thrust upon the world. Prime Minister Duncan believes there are significant opportunities for postal operators in Côte d’Ivoire and beyond.
The revitalization of Côte d’Ivoire’s national postal operator is a key government objective after years of economic and political turmoil. In 2013, the country introduced a new postal code, replacing one from 1976 to ensure the provision of a universal postal service for all members of its population regardless of where they live. In 2014, the postal operator introduced a new international express service, POST’EXPRESS, for letters and parcels.
The Post will also benefit from an extensive fibre optic network that is currently being installed across the West African country, significantly boosting the population’s access to the Internet. Indeed, the government aims to carve out a role for the national postal operator in logistics in the e-commerce sector, according to Bruno Koné, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Post, Information and Communication Technologies. He pointed out that while consumers can place orders via their computer, it’s not the computer who will actually deliver the item. This was one reason why postal operators have great prospects ahead, Koné told a press conference following the opening ceremony.
The UPU’s World Strategy Conference is taking place from April 13-14,
Strategy, Geneva 2015, Organization
