Opening remarks by UPU Secretary General Bishar A. Hussein, Istanbul, Turkey, 3 October 2016
Your Excellency Bruno Nabagné Koné, the Minister for Posts, ICTs and Communication of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire
Distinguished delegates
Ladies and gentlemen
Quality of service is an important component of postal services and that is why the UPU specifically promotes it to encourage designated operators improve quality of service at the regional level, taking into account the entire supply chain from posting through to delivery
We recognize that the designated operators can’t achieve this without the support of other partners such as airlines, customs authorities and security services. I wish to thank these partners for this synergy that continues to make the post the largest most trusted global delivery network.
Since 2013, the UPU International Bureau has been improving the quality of service project and I am glad we have had very good results of service improvement from operators in various service segments including supply chain and product development in different regions of the world.
I wish to thank all the participating countries, who I must say have achieved significant improvements in the quality of their postal services.
The awards are part of UPU’s initiative to support quality service delivery and encourage countries to participate in the project. The UPU certification system is intended to measure the degree of application in designated operators' structures of quality management processes, as well as their performance.
This certification applies to international service quality management for letter mail, and aims to provide a level playing field for assessing designated operators, irrespective of the countries' level of development.
The certification system comprises five levels: an entry level and four higher levels – C, B, A and A*.
In 2016, 30 designated operators were certified at different levels:
Entry level: Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Solomon Islands, Tanzania, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Uganda and Vanuatu.
Level C: Benin, Burkina Faso, Laos, Philippines and Togo.
Level B: Botswana, Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tonga, Turkey, Vietnam and Zimbabwe
Level A: Kenya, Nigeria
Level A STAR: Indonesia and Malaysia
I would like to congratulate those of you receiving awards on the results of the certification exercise, and I encourage you to continue in your efforts to further improve quality of service for your customers.
The honorable representatives of the awarded designated operators are invited, immediately after the speeches, to receive their award certificates and for a photo ceremony which will take place in front of the podium.
Congratulations all and thank you very much.