Tag: Asia

Korea's Postal Office to Spend 175.4 bln won

Posted by | Jan 30, 2008 | |

Korea’s state-run post office said Tuesday that it will invest 175.4 billion won (USD 185.5 million) in 2008 mostly to improve its mailing system.

Korea Post said the investment earmarked for this year includes 37.4 billion won for procuring necessary hardware and software, 6.5 billion won for better IT systems and 57.3 billion won for system maintenance.

It also plans to spend some of the money to purchase around 40,000 radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and 600 tag readers for improving the speed at which its mailing work is carried out, the company said in a statement.

1 USD = 944.223 KRW

Read More

SingPost Group results for third quarter

Posted by | Jan 30, 2008 | |

Singapore Post Limited (“SingPost”) announced its unaudited results for the third quarter and nine months ended 31 December 2007.

The Group registered a 9.2 pct growth in its revenue for the third quarter, from SGD 111.8 million to SGD 122.0 million, as the three business segments achieved improved
performances.

Mail revenue increased 9.5pct from SGD 86.0 million to SGD94.2 million, on higher mail volumes while Logistics revenue rose 5.3pct from SGD17.0 million to SGD17.9 million, on increased Speedpost traffic and growth in vPOST on-line shopping transactions.

Retail revenue grew 7.9pct from SGD14.5 million to SGD15.6 million, as growth in financial services and retail products continue to offset the decline in agency/bill presentment services.

Rental and property related income improved by 21.6pct from SGD5.1 million to SGD6.2 million, as a result of higher rental rates and yield enhancement initiatives at SingPost Centre.

Total expenses rose 10.7pct from SGD76.7 million to SGD84.9 million as a result of increased business activities. Labour and related costs increased 10.6pct from SGD27.9 million to SGD30.9 million on higher wages and variable staff costs. Volume-related costs increased 16.5pct from SGD27.6 million to SGD32.1 million. Finance expenses declined 15.0pct from SGD2.7 million to SGD2.3 million as the Group has fully repaid the term loan obtained in March 2006.

Operating profit for the Group improved by 6.7pct from SGD43.3 million to SGD46.2 million. Mail operating profit posted a 7.5pct increase from SGD34.4 million to SGD37.0 million, while Logistics operating profit improved by 3.3pct from SGD3.0 million to SGD3.1 million.

Read More

Western Union teams up with Bangladesh postal department for easy transfer of remittance

Posted by | Jan 29, 2008 | |

Western Union, an international money transferring company, has teamed up with Bangladesh Postal Department for delivering the money remitted by expatriate Bangladeshis to the villagers easily.

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Western Union (WU) signed the five-year deal on December 12, 2007, Brigadier General (rtd) M A Malek, special assistant to the Chief Adviser, told journalists.

“As per the deal, we will launch our services through 450 post stations in Bangladesh in the first phase and the number of such postal WU money receiving points will be raised gradually,” according to Anil Kapur, WU managing director for South Asia, who was also present at the press meet.

Acting Posts and Telecommunications Secretary Iqbal Mahmood termed the agreement as a new dimension to the postal services.

“We have started delivering passport forms and I hope we will also be able to deliver passports from post offices very soon,” he said.

Special Assistant Malek hinted at renewal of the deal after expiry of its five-year tenure for continuation of the WU-Postal Department joint services to ensure ‘easy and timely’ delivery of remittances in rural Bangladesh.

Anil informed the journalists that Bangladesh is one of the top 15 remittance recipients across the globe.

As per official statistics, the country received nearly USD 6 billion as remittance from non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) last year and the contribution of such remittance to the gross domestic product (GDP) crosses 13 percent.

The regional top official of the international money transfer firm said at present 30 percent remittance comes from Saudi Arabia, 15 percent from the USA and more than 10 percent from the UK.

With only 100 points across the country at the onset of its operation, the WU has now set up more than 1400 points to receive money, Anil said while giving a resume of his company.

The WU’s share in global money transfer business is over 17 percent, he said.

Read More

FedEx expands Taiwan service with FTZ facility

Posted by | Jan 29, 2008 | |

Rising customer demand in Taiwan has seen FedEx Express has opened a multi-function facility in the Taoyuan Free Trade Zone to cope with rising customer demand in the fast growing island state.

The facility covers 306.4 square metres and complements the nearby FedEx Taiwan Transshipment Center located in the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei.

Michael Chu, managing director of FedEx Taiwan, said the facility allowed FedEx “to better respond to the enormous potential of the Taoyuan FTZ”.

FedEx continues to expand its presence in Taiwan, aiming to provide more reliable and efficient service to its customers. FedEx has 18 regional distribution centres in major cities across Asia Pacific, which specialise in express cross-docking operations, critical inventory logistics and customised logistics operations.

With the advantages of the integration of an air cargo park within Taoyuan FTZ, as well as the proximity to the Taipei airport, FedEx’s new investment aims to create a competitive edge for customers in Taiwan as they increase their presence in the global market.

Read More

Globe Telecom and Western Union Join Forces to Deliver Money Transfers through Mobile Phones in the Philippines

Posted by | Jan 29, 2008 | |

The Western Union Company, Globe Telecom and its wholly owned subsidiary, G-Xchange, Inc., announced today that they will join forces to introduce a cross-border mobile money transfer service supporting low-principal, high-frequency remittances.

Globe Telecom, a leading telecommunications provider in the Philippines, offers its GCASH service with an “electronic wallet” feature that allows users to send and receive cash and make payments, including bill payments, donations and online purchases via texting. Globe Telecom had more than 19 million subscribers as of the end of September 2007 and close to half a million active GCASH users.

Once the Western Union(R) mobile money transfer pilot has launched, the service will connect operators to Western Union’s existing global money transfer system. Once connected to the Western Union service, operators will be able to use their own “mobile wallet” software to enable person-to-person mobile money transfers over Western Union’s cross-border remittance network. The Mobile Money Transfer service will enable consumers to transfer money to or from mobile wallets and will offer a global network of Western Union Agent locations for cash-to-mobile and mobile-to-cash transactions.

Mobile networks now cover more than 80 percent of the world’s population, and 3 billion people have a mobile phone,(2) creating a unique opportunity to extend the benefits of financial services to many of the world’s families for the first time.

The agreement with Globe is part of the pilot program of Western Union and the GSM Association, a global trade association representing over 700 GSM mobile phone operators, to facilitate the development of cross-border mobile money transfer services.

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

What's the future of the postal USO?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!



View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest