World Post Day 2012: Message from UPU General Director

A new strategy for a new world

Ours is an era of new information and communication technologies, of mobile telephones and the Internet. And yet, Posts are not standing idly on the side lines: they are an integral part of the increasingly digital world.  

As strong drivers of economic growth, Posts must continue to innovate, develop efficient and accessible postal services, adopt common standards and exploit new technologies to diversify and improve services.  Post offices – whether physical or virtual – serve not only customers’ communication needs but also allow them to conduct official business, pay bills, send or receive money, order goods or track and trace letters or parcels along the entire distribution chain. 

Traditional letter-post services still account for the majority of postal revenues but Posts can benefit from the globalization of mail exchanges in other ways. They should seize the opportunities offered by e-commerce. Many Posts are wisely readying their operations for the e-commerce boom, which has resulted in increased parcel volumes. And rightly so; industry-watchers predict that e-commerce sales will surpass the trillion-euro mark in 2013. Many of the goods ordered online will be delivered as parcels to customers and who better than the Post to fill that role?

For its part, the UPU will continue to help Posts better interconnect their networks to facilitate exchanges. It will also continue to provide know-how and technical expertise, encourage the development of innovative postal products and services to better meet customer needs and sustainably develop the postal sector. 

Governments too must step up to the mark. Their support of the postal sector is crucial. With it, Posts across the globe will fulfil their potential as motors of national economies. 

Despite this changing world, the postal community is still well placed to guarantee the integrity of the universal postal service and the free circulation of mail items within the single postal territory. 

I wish you the very best on World Post Day 2012.