PSS attended and participated actively for the very first time on behalf of Country St. Maarten, a member country of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the 25th UPU Postal Congress which was held in Doha, Qatar, from the 23 September – 15 October 2012. The UPU Congress which is held once every four (4) years brings all the member country postal administrations of the world (192 in total) together under one roof for an extended period to discuss the current issues and to map out a road map plan for the future of the Post for the coming four (4) year cycle period.
The Congress is of significance to the Postal Administrations of the world, as it is the setting where member countries can discuss, debate and present proposals to bring about changes to improve the current postal network and its inner workings, while determine the next steps together.
During the congress the progress made during the past four (4) year cycle was shared and presented, with some of the highlights being advances being made in the technological field and the launching of the .post (dot post platform) to facilitate help the post migration from paper to electronic mail age and to allow in the years to come the postal administrations of the world to be a more effective and aggressive player in the growing e-commerce world.
Hundreds of proposals were presented, discussed and debated to further improve and streamline the workings between the Postal Administrations of the world. St. Maarten along with Aruba and Curacao participated jointly, as the three member country together share one seat and one vote at the UPU. Together the three (3) voted on the proposals and shared in the discussions.
The current state of the Postal Administration throughout the world remains very financially challenging, with falling letter mail volumes, but increasing parcel volumes as a result of the increasing E-commerce trade, along with the growth in financial services. Despite many administrations being a relative bad financial shape, there are a number that have become success stories and are now making profits, after having embraced changed and made some significant investments and with the backing and support of their Governments to streamline their operations and stepping over into the digital age, amongst other changes.
Ongoing developments at the UPU level will make it easier in the future for more administrations to jump on the technological wagon and take advantage of the opportunities that many administrations currently are not able to capitalize on.
At the close of the UPU Congress, for the first time in the history of St. Maarten, Postal Services St. Maarten, on behalf of country St. Maarten, signed the Postal Acts ratifying and agreeing to terms set that will govern the Postal Administrations of the World during the next four (4) year cycle period.
Echoed at the closing of Congress and very important for the future success of the Postal Administrations of the world is the backing and support received from the respective Governments, seeing the provision of the Postal Service remains a Universal Obligation of each member country and a right of its citizens to have to be able to send and receive mail.
The session ended with the election of a new Director General, from Kenya and establishing of where the next UPU Congress will be held, which will be in the year 2016 and in Istanbul, Turkey.