UPU and Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (PUASP) strengthen their ties

The Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (PUASP), through the Declaration of Santo Domingo, urge the countries of Latin America to undertake postal sector reform.

The postal sector in Latin America, made up of public operators and a large number of private enterprises, is highly fragmented. With UPU assistance, postal sector reform has now been launched in nine Latin American countries, starting off with Costa Rica in 2005.

The integrated postal reform and development plans (IPDPs) replace an approach based solely on the restructuring of the public postal operator. These national plans, which take particular account of the universal postal service and of the regulatory and legal framework, provide for the whole sector. Since 2007, Latin America also has a regional development plan aimed at coordinating the activities of the various postal sector stakeholders.

At the regional conference of government authorities responsible for supervising the postal sector in the PUASP member countries, held in Santo Domingo (Dominican Rep.) on 22 and 23 May 2008, UPU Director General Edouard Dayan and PUASP Secretary General Serrana Bassini casci reiterated their commitment to cooperate in the development and good governance of the postal sector.

In a joint declaration signed by 22 of the region’s countries and territories, the UPU and PUASP encourage those countries which have not yet formulated an IPDP to do so, in conjunction with the UPU. The purpose of the Declaration was to raise awareness among governments about the importance of modernizing and providing appropriate resources for the development of their countries’ designated operators, and to restate the importance of continually improving quality of service and increasing the sector’s role in the development of international trade by providing, inter alia, export development solutions for small and medium enterprises.

The two organizations will also pursue their financing activities, and will urge their members to assign the funds needed to implement their own strategies. The main thrusts of this Declaration are enshrined in the new UPU strategy to be adopted by the forthcoming Universal Postal Congress (23 July to 12 August 2008), which will recommend the regional approach, already taken on board by the UPU and reflected in its cooperation projects. Says Edouard DAYAN: “Cooperation between the UPU and Latin America is important in this connection, and must be pursued through the implementation of specific joint projects, included as a priority in the regional development plan for Latin America, as well as through the pooling of financial and other resources.”