La Poste: Eastern Europe Alliance opportunities
La Poste: Eastern Europe Alliance Opportunities
October 12, 2001 — Reuters: “The French post office said it is eyeing partnerships with other postal utilities in Europe following the announcement on Thursday of a tie-up with Post Sweden in the parcels and express sectors. ‘Scandinavia is a very important market for package delivery services and the agreement we’ve reached with Post Sweden extends our European network to some 23 countries,’ La Poste president Martin Vial told Reuters in an interview. La Poste’s external growth activities, particularly in Germany and the U.K., and its partnership agreements in southern Europe, with the Italian and Spanish post offices, signed earlier this year, and now in Scandinavia, with Post Sweden, give the French operator the leading, integrated rapid transport networks in Europe, Vial said. ‘However, it would be wrong to assume our network is now complete. Without going into detail, we are in discussions with other postal utilities with the aim of extending it (the network). If one looks at Europe in broader geographical terms, the ex-Soviet bloc, for example and in particular, those countries who are seeking membership of the EU, opportunities for co-operation exist,’ Vial said. Turning to eastern Europe was perhaps a logical step forward for La Poste when one considered that via DPD, it had the second biggest parcels network in Germany. ‘One can see how important it could be for DPD’s German customers to be able to count on a high quality logistics chain which encompasses the emerging economies in neighbouring countries to the east.’ Returning to the agreement with the Swedish post office, Vial said La Poste’s counterparts in Spain and Italy were also set to benefit from this alliance. ‘While our agreement with Post Sweden does not specifically target parcel traffic flows between northern and southern Europe, clearly there is scope, via DPD, to develop routes linking Spain and Italy with Scandinavia,’ Vial added.” (Source: Reuters)
