Again this year, World Post Day was celebrated around the globe, this time under the theme, “A Post that is innovative and relevant”.
In addition to formal medal award ceremonies for outstanding postal workers and the prizes presented to winners of the UPU’s international letter-writing competition, Posts took the opportunity to launch or promote new postal products and services. For example, the Tunisian Post established partnerships with other African Posts to develop electronic and financial services, and the Indian Post launched National Postal Week, highlighting a different postal service each day, from savings accounts to life assurance.
The 2010 World Post Day celebrations also included free entrance to Lithuania’s communication museum; open day at the Karachi training centre in Pakistan; new stamp issues in Poland; philatelic exhibitions in Saudi Arabia and Morocco; educational activities in Yemen; the inauguration of renovated postal facilities in Cameroon; a three-day cultural festival in Erbil, Iraq, featuring conferences, exhibitions and concerts; and a sports tournament in Sri Lanka … to name just a few.
World Post Day marks the anniversary of the UPU’s creation on 9 October 1874 and gives governments and Posts an opportunity to demonstrate just how much the ever-expanding range of postal services contributes to national economic growth.
Postal services employ around 5 million people in 600,000 establishments, making up an estimated 1% of the GDP of countries around the world.