World Post Day 2007: postal services a driver of economic development
Last 9th October it was the World Post Day, the Universal Postal Union is drawing attention to the importance of ensuring that all the world’s citizens have easy access to postal services.
Universal postal service, a catalogue of postal services to which citizens have access, is often considered from a political or social point of view. But the universal postal service must also be seen in terms of its economic benefits, as UPU Director General Edouard DAYAN stressed in his annual message to the organization’s member countries.
“The universal postal service contributes to a country’s economic efficiency, and providing it across borders to all businesses and all citizens helps to promote the integration of markets. In a highly competitive international environment, the universal postal service provides companies and individuals with ready access to domestic markets. It is also a key facilitator of trade between countries, or between regional economic blocs.”
DAYAN reminded member countries of the importance for citizens of being able to access postal services everywhere on a given territory. “If postal deliveries, or access to postal financial services, were to be restricted to the main urban centres, this would leave millions of people and businesses dangerously sidelined and unable to participate in the economic activity of their country,” he said.
Day after day, some five million employees process and deliver millions of letters and parcels. With more than 660,000 offices, the Post forms the single largest physical distribution network in the world.
Governments, regulatory authorities and public and private postal operators all work alongside the UPU to improve the efficiency of the universal postal service for everyone’s benefit. The worldwide distribution in July of more than 2.5 million copies of the latest Harry Potter book, the development of an international network giving access to affordable, reliable money transfers, or the reconstruction of postal installations in Liberia, a country which is getting back on its feet after 14 years of civil war, are all examples of how the postal sector contributes positively to the global economy.
