UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein has encouraged Latin America’s Posts to outmatch market competitors by offering more innovative services at a recent high-level regional conference in Costa Rica.
“Posts are faced with great challenges as they play catch-up and focus on winning back market share,” said the director general. “This is a turning point for the Post and we must all ready ourselves for the changing situation and adapt to the conditions.”
Latin American ministers, regulators and postal leaders, including Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis, met in San José for a High-Level Postal Conference organized by the UPU and the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (PUASP). The event, which took place June 8-9, was organized under the Latin American Regional Development Plan decided during the previous work cycle.
“The Post has become a great tool for development and economic growth, especially in an economy that has turned global,” Solis noted in his opening remarks.
The conference gave postal decision-makers a forum to discuss the Post’s role in driving trade, innovation and development, focusing on the region’s need to modernize its postal services in the wake of growing e-commerce demands.
Participants broke into three working groups to discuss the state of the postal sector, the Post’s role as a trade facilitator and how to use the Post to drive financial inclusion.
Union reform
Deputy Director General Pascal Clivaz shared the Union’s own plans to innovate in a presentation about the proposed reform of the Union.
“Transformation is a must for the UPU. We as an organization must continue to provide innovative solutions to our member countries so that they, in turn, may provide innovative products and services to their customers,” said Clivaz.
The proposed reform would merge the Council of Administration (CA) and Postal Operations Council (POC) into one Council. It suggests that the change would speed up decision-making, reduce costly sessions, and minimize duplication of work.
Member countries will vote on the proposal during this year’s Universal Postal Congress in Istanbul.
“We strongly believe that the reform proposal, if and when approved by Congress, will bring about the sweeping transformation of our Union that we have sought for so long. I would urge all member countries in Latin America to join the other regions that have already endorsed the reform agenda,” said Hussein.
For his part, the Costa Rican president encouraged the region to embrace change: “I believe Latin America has to be at the forefront of the international debate on postal services … we cannot be shy and should express our ideas, our experiences and our good practices in Istanbul, placing them at the centre of the political debates at Congress,” Solis said
Government meetings
The UPU leaders also visited Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly to discuss postal regulation, while discussions with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alejandro Solano highlighted how the UPU, PUASP and other international bodies could cooperate to move the sector forward.
A meeting with the country’s Vice President Ana Helena Chacón focused on the role the Post could play in national development, particularly regarding financial inclusion.