Tag: Switzerland

World's postal sector players meet for the 24th Universal Postal Congress

Posted by | Jul 22, 2008 | |

The development gaps that separate the postal services of industrialized and developing countries at a worldwide level must be reduced for citizens and businesses to better participate in international trade, said UPU Director General Edouard Dayan.

More than 2,200 postal sector stakeholders will participate in the 24th Universal Postal Congress, taking place in Geneva from 12 August. The majority of its 191 member countries will be represented.

According to Dayan, member countries must firmly commit to modernizing their postal networks so that, globally, they can fully contribute to their social and economic development objectives. Postal services are still alive and well, he said, adding that e-mail and the Internet had not rung the death knell for them. On the contrary, he added, all means of communication complement each other, and the postal sector in this era of the Internet and online commerce has never played a more key role in today’s commercial trade.

These challenges and others will be at the heart of Congress discussions and the World Postal Strategy UPU member countries will be asked to adopt. This strategy is designed around the interoperability of postal networks, using new technologies and harmonized international standards, the development of markets and more well-defined governance rules for the postal sector. Four objectives aim to better position worldwide postal services in the light of tougher competition, the opening up of markets, the advances made by new technologies, which offer new opportunities, and the need to improve their reliability and speed to respond adequately to individual and business needs.

Congress delegates will study 560 proposals. Some 330 are of a general nature or aim to modify the UPU Acts, an international treaty signed by all member countries at the end of Congress. The other proposals, more technical, will be examined by the next UPU Postal Operations Council. It will hold its first session after Congress in October at UPU headquarters in Berne.

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Swiss Post International acquires German-based GPD

Posted by | Jul 22, 2008 | |

Swiss Post International (SPI), the international Group unit of Swiss Post, has taken over Global Press Distribution GmbH (GPD) in Germany. With this acquisition, SPI is consolidating its position in the German export press market, the largest in Europe. GPD has a staff of 31 and generated sales of CHF 8 million in 2007.
The acquisition of Global Press Distribution GmbH (GPD) by Swiss Post International (SPI) will take effect retroactively to 1 January 2008. It was agreed that the purchase price will not be disclosed. GPD, whose registered office is in Moerfelden near Frankfurt, provides services connected with the international and national dispatch of magazines. Its customers in Germany include publishers, printers, lettershops and other service providers in the publishing industry. With a workforce of 31, GPD generated sales equivalent to CHF 8 million francs in 2007.
With this acquisition SPI is reinforcing its position in the export press business. The German press market is the biggest in Europe, with 400 newspapers and 200 magazine publications. By entering this market, Swiss Post is pursuing its strategy of establishing itself in international niche markets. Swiss Post now already generates 20 percent of its sales abroad and in its cross-border business. SPI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss Post and currently employs 1,200 people in eleven European countries, five major cities in Asia and in the USA. SPI is now number five on the cross-border letters market after Deutsche Post, United States Postal Service, the UK’s Royal Mail and France’s La Poste.

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EU postal operators failing to communicate

Posted by | Jul 14, 2008 | |

Swiss Post and Royal Mail have been praised for their regular news bulletins by Hellmail, the European postal industry news site.

Editor for Hellmail, Steve Lawson, said “Many Euro postal operators have been rather slow to market themselves and communicate in the wider context since Liberalisation began.” he said.

He said that some postal operators should be praised for their efforts. Swiss Post particularly, with a whole section devoted to media communications including an impressive image library. Royal Mail too has a dedicated press office with almost daily news.

“Oddly, Lithuania scores well in terms of news output, but France’s La Poste, Turkey, Slovakia and Slovenia fall far behind. Italy, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria rarely update their news, The Ukraine, Latvia and Luxembourg have no translation facility at all for news, and Romania stopped producing translated news altogether in 2007.”

Hellmail found that most web sites were reasonably easy to navigate except for Denmark & Greece which had a Flash into that was very difficult to get past. Swiss Post and Royal Mail scored the highest for news output, closely followed by DHL, Malta, and Russian Post.

“Clearly there is much room for improvement and we have emailed most of these operators asking them to look closer at the way they communicate. Obviously some European postal services are heavily tied into state ownership, and in some cases, political regimes, but even so, with Europe pushing for closer ties under postal liberalisation, some countries have simply failed to exploit the potential here. From our perspective, its so important that smaller European countries can be heard. We really do want to know what they’re about.” he said.

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UPU Geneva Conference Proposals: Potential Implications for U.S. Consumers and Markets

Posted by | Jul 11, 2008 | |

According to one 2008 UPU publication, 69 percent of the world’s permanent or mobile post offices offer financial services. Funding initiatives that would provide advantages for state postal monopolies to enter sectors already served by the private sector, such as financial services, would not benefit U.S. consumers and markets. They also place monopoly consumers at increased peril of being overcharged to finance such new ventures.
As discussed in the U.S. Strategic Plan for the UPU presented at this Committee’s meeting in March, it is a primary goal that the UPU “promote and encourage unrestricted and undistorted competition in the provision of international postal … and delivery services.”
Several proposals and documents discuss an expanded involvement for the UPU into the financial services sector, an expansion the United States should view with considerable concern. These include:

• The Postal Operations Council Report, Document 23, puts forward a definition of the postal sector including a financial dimension, specifically discussing credit cards, savings products and pension payments.

• UPU Proposal 10, “Postal Financial Services Development” instructs the Postal Operations Council and the International Bureau to “meet the demands of the changing environment” by, among other things, “promoting anti-money-laundering activities” and “recommending the introduction of new financial services which could be offered via the worldwide postal network.” According to the U.S. Strategic Plan for the UPU, it should be ensured that policies comply with U.S. anti-money laundering policies and other regulatory requirements.

• Document 27A, Council of Administration Report, discusses the “Connect the World” initiative proposed to be completed by 2015. As described, the initiative would develop postal financial services, and in particular money transfers, through partnerships between governments, the private sector and international organizations.
Other Sectors
The Postal Operations Council report discusses other areas, such as parcels, express and logistics services, each with an articulated future role for the UPU, particularly in developing markets and business development.
For instance, it cites logistics, and specifically the “strong growth area” of outsourced warehouse-to-customer logistics functions. In 28 percent of UPU member countries, national posts currently offer logistics services, according to the UPU. “Issues of corporate freedom and competencies to develop these services [by national posts] will be limiting factors, unless they are suitably addressed,” the report states.
Proposal 28 concerns climate change and sustainable development and includes the producing publications for postal administrations on the subject and, “developing Socially Responsible Investing products, microcredits for postal administrations that carry out banking activities, and reliable, affordable fund transfer services for migrant workers and their families.” It then outlines a future role for the UPU as an active contributor to market development, undertaking robust market analysis while working with all stakeholder groups.
Proposal 37 from the Postal Operations Council seeks to advance postal market development goals. It would specifically instruct the council to “facilitate the growth of letter post, parcels and postal financial services markets, as well as business services, logistics and E-business, including hybrid mail, E-shopping, electronic postal certification and dot.post.” It also instructs the council to increase capabilities and create or maintain business relationships and partnerships to facilitate such growth.”

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