Emirates Post gears to host UPU Strategy Conference 'Dubai 2006'
This is the first Strategy Conference to be held outside Switzerland, and will be attended by expert speakers and VIP participants, including Ministers, from 130 UPU member countries at Grand Hyatt Dubai.
His Excellency Sultan Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister for Government Sector Development and Chairman of Emirates Post, said, 'The UAE and Emirates Post have spared no effort to ensure that the Strategy Conference is a resounding success. Learning from our experience in hosting mega events, including the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF in 2003, we have provided world-class conference facilities and hospitality for our guests.'
After several months of preparations, Emirates Post is set to host the biggest gathering of heads of global postal corporations and experts from the mail industry at the UPU Strategy Conference to be held in Dubai from November 14 to 16, 2006, under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
'The event has assumed bigger significance with HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum granting his patronage. We would like to thank High Highness for this patronage. We will continue to work for the development of the country under the leadership of the President HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and members of the Supreme Council,' said H.E. Al Mansouri.
'It is an honour for the UAE and Emirates Post to host such a huge event that has attracted some of the biggest names from the mail and logistics industries,' said Mr. Al Daboos. 'We hope this event will prove to be a platform for promoting new ideas and concepts that will lead to upgrading of postal services in all member countries.'
'The Strategy Conference comes before the UPU Congress which will be held in Nairobi in 2008 which will pave the way for postal strategy for the next four years. Dubai 2006 will pave the way for the next UPU Congress,' said Mr. Al Daboos.
Mr. Al Daboos said the conference will discuss several new areas that are becoming part of the new postal set-up, including logistics, remittances, supply chain management, financial services, express, direct marketing and e-Services.
'This will be a paperless conference to reflect the increasing adoption of Information Technology by postal corporations,' said Mr. Daboos. 'Posts are increasingly using technology for track and trace, mail receipt intimation, inquiries, etc. The conference will focus on postal sector's strategy to go beyond posts. One of the key topics of discussion will be e-commerce which is gaining acceptance across the world.'
Mr. Edouard Dayan, Director General of UPU, said, 'Holding the Strategy Conference under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Al Maktoum is a testimonial to the importance that United Arab Emirates is giving to our event. We are positive the conference will highlight major changes in the postal field and provide a direction for future strategies.'
H.E. Sultan Saeed Al Mansouri will deliver the welcome address. The list of speakers includes Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director General, World Trade Organisation; Mr. Fouad H. Nader, Adrenale Corporation, USA; Mr. Tareq Kamel, Minister of Telecommunications & IT, Egypt. Mr. Joong-Yeon Hwang, President, Korea Post; Mr. Klaus Zumwinkel, Chairman of the Board of Management, Deutsche Post AG; Mr. Carl Asmus, Vice President, International Marketing, Fedex; Mr. Alan Bryden, Secretary General, International Organisation for standardization; Mr. Jean-Paul Bailly, President, La Poste, France; Mr. Mario Frusch, CEO, EP Europost, Germany and Mr. Andong Liu, Postmaster General of China Post.
About UPU:
The UPU, a United Nations specialiased agency based in Berne, Switzerland, is the primary forum for cooperation between posts. In addition to maintaining a genuinely universal network that provides modern products and services, it establishes the rules for international mail exchanges among its 190 member countries and makes recommendations to stimulate mail volume growth and to improve the quality of service for customers. Each year, 5 million employees process and deliver 424 billion domestic letter-post items, some 6 billion international items and over 4.4 billion ordinary parcels.
About Emirates Post:
Emirates Post is one of the most dynamic federal organizations in the UAE. On May 29, 2001, it was converted from General Postal Authority into Emirates Post Corporation. Emirates Post has developed innovative new services, diversified its offering and established alliances with global postal corporations and international companies operating in the UAE. Emirates Post has a network of 84 post offices across the UAE. Its diversified offering includes mail fulfillment, utility bill payment services, government services, direct marketing, banking and retail services. Its future plans include forays into remittances, logistics and financial services.
