Pos Malaysia seeks alliances with ASEAN posts

Pos Malaysia Bhd is looking at business alliances and collaboration with postal organizations of Asean nations to strengthen its competitiveness and enhance its postal delivery service. Chairman, Datuk Ikmal Hijaz Hashim said projects planned with the Asean postal organizations included joint marketing strategies on express mail services, promotion of parcel services and joint stamp and philatelic products among the Asean countries. “Pos Malaysia is also upgrading its international remittances services to speed up payment transaction,” he said at a press conference after the launch of the 12th Asean Postal Business Meeting. Ikmal said Pos Malaysia non-postal services such as payment of utilities and remittance services were growing as a significant contributor to group’s turnover. He said the current de-pegging of the ringgit would also be positive to Pos Malaysia as it would help to lower operating cost structure. “However, the competitive business environment compounded by the growing number of new entrants in the industry may exert some pressure on our bottomline and thus new ways to enhance earnings will have to be explored,” he said. Minister of Energy, Water and Communications, Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said Asean countries could also set up a hub within a selected location in the region for shared services among member countries. This, he said will promote economies of scale and integration of postal facilities in the region. Asean Postal Business Meeting, held annually since its commencement in 1992 comprises all Asean countries’ postal organizations, is an avenue for its members to share experiences and best practices for postal reforms and business development. More than 30 participants representing each country’s postal organization (except the Philippines) are attending the two-day forum.