Tag: Middle East

Atias, Treasury spar over Postal Bank direction

Posted by | Aug 2, 2007 | |

“To claim that the Postal Bank will compete against Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi is a big mistake, and I won’t let it happen. Such a move would turn an angel into a demon, which instead of helping Israel Post Company Ltd., will harm it,” said Minister of Communications Ariel Atias in response to the decision to transfer supervision of the Postal Bank to the Bank of Israel Banking Supervision Department as part of the Postal Bank’s privatization.

The privatization of Israel Post, including the Postal Bank, should move forward quickly now that a new minister of finance and Government Companies Authority director general have been appointed, and the issue has been included in the 2008 economic arrangements bill. However, Atias opposes losing control of the Postal Bank on the grounds that Israel Post is not ready for the privatization. He claims that postal services would become secondary to banking services that the Postal Bank is due to provide in the future.

Atias said, “The Postal Bank is supposed to serve the poor and middle class, not provide credit to manufacturers and commercial companies. The Ministry of Finance wants to turn it into a large bank, which is a mistake.”

The Bank of Israel supports the Ministry of Finance, and believes that the Postal Bank should be turned into a regular banking corporation as part of the privatization of Israel Post. Supervisor of Banks Rony Hizkiyahu has made turning the Postal Bank into a commercial bank conditional on having a minimum shareholders’ equity of NIS 150 million and transferring supervision of the Postal Bank to the Bank of Israel.

The Government Companies Authority proposes privatizing Israel Post in two stages. In the first stage, 49 pct of the company will be sold in an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) by May 31, 2008. Later, the rest of the company will be sold to a strategic investor.

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Emirates Post launches a range of online services

Posted by | Aug 2, 2007 | |

Emirates Post has announced that its website (www. emiratespost.ae) has been enhanced to offer a wide range of postal and non-postal services, backed by a secure online payment system.

Users can after registering online pay DewaDewa and SewaSewa bills, Sharjah Traffic Police and Sharjah Municipality, track parcels and registered items and calculate postal tariffs.

In addition, they can reserve, renew and pay for P.O. Boxes and view list of approved applicants for Shaikh Zayed Housing Programme, among other services.

The website also allows people to form their own utility bill management system online by registering with an electronic P.O. Box which enables people to select the bills they want to pay online and get updates on latest transactions, due date, bill information and notification of incoming registered mail.

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Empost signs for new courier system

Posted by | Jul 30, 2007 | |

UAE courier service Empost has deployed a courier and consignment tracking application from Avanza in a bid to improve efficiency.

The new core front post office system is designed to provide Empost with an end-to-end tracking capability, allowing the courier to follow a parcel from arrival in its system to its transfer to another courier service or the addressee. It also allows Empost staff to book and amend jobs, allowing comprehensive call centre functionality.

“Empost wanted to revamp its core postal front office system; the previous system was on an older technology,” said Muzaffar Jamil, regional manager at Avanza. “The project also included interfacing with multiple hardware systems for the front office, and handheld devices for the riders. The availability of the system is also very critical since Empost provides the main postal service across the UAE, and a small downtime can create a lot of problems.”

One of the requirements was to add Empost branding to the procuct, because Empost wants to project its experience to to other postal systems. “Empost also has mail rooms at external organisations, such as banks and government ministries, to facilitate the mail dispatches and pickups. This solution enabled Empost to extend its automation to these mail rooms resulting in central storage and reporting of consignments details and status,” said Waqas Mirza, project manager at Avanza.

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Aramex net profits surge 36 pct to AED 33.5 million (USD 9.12 million)

Posted by | Jul 29, 2007 | |

Aramex, announced that 2007 second quarter net profits climbed 36 pct to a record breaking AED 33.5 million, compared to AED 24.6 million for the same period in 2006. Revenues soared 21 pct to AED 438 million, from AED 361 million for the same period last year.

The results pushed Aramex’s 2007 half-year net profits up by 39 pct to AED 63.4 million, from AED 45.8 million for the same period last year. Revenues for the first six months of 2007 also registered a very strong 39 pct growth, jumping to AED 837 million, from AED 600 million for the same period in 2006.

Commenting on the results, Fadi Ghandour, Aramex’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, stressed that the company’s impressive performance “demonstrates our solid leadership in our core markets. All our products are enjoying double digit revenue growth in the Gulf and we have been winning key accounts in the region’s logistics sector.”

Arab Emir. Dirham = 0.27229 US Dollar

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Aramex Delivers for Qatar Foundation

Posted by | Jul 29, 2007 | |

Aramex has recently signed a significant courier service agreement with Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.

Through this agreement Aramex will establish an implant office on the Qatar Foundation premises; The Education City, to offer domestic and international delivery of time-sensitive documents, parcels and shipments through its extensive domestic, regional and international network.

Aramex provides a successful portfolio of express services in Qatar. The company’s online tracking system allows customers to have access to up to the minute information on the delivery and collection of their shipments.

“We are proud to sign this agreement with Qatar Foundation that has been at the heart of the educational and social growth in the country. Our people are dedicated to service excellence and we are confident they will perform to the global best practices while maintaining a focus on their deep knowledge of the domestic market in Qatar”, said Mohammad Alkhas, Aramex Qatar Country Manager.

“Through our work station in The Education City, our specialized team will operate in a timely and accurate manner to ensure all shipments, documents and parcels are delivered punctually in and outside Qatar”, added Alkhas.

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