Tag: Switzerland

Swiss economic minister Leuthard wants postal services liberalised

Posted by | Dec 30, 2007 | |

Swiss economic minister Doris Leuthard said she wants to see the Swiss postal service liberalised.

In an interview with Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, the federal councillor of the department of economic affairs said it is ‘conceivable’ that Swiss Post could become a form of listed company, pointing out that Swisscom AG is today already a listed company.

She added that she would also not rule out the possibility of adopting the Austrian model of a partial privatisation of Swiss Post. A draft on post market reform is to be presented by the department of the environment, transport, energy and communications.

As to whether the federal government should reduce its stake in Swisscom to under 50 pct, Leuthard said the issue will be discussed by the federal council — or the Swiss cabinet — in the coming four years.

‘I think that the Federation should hold a blocking minority stake for strategic reasons,’ she added.

The federal council will also be discussing the issue of sovereign wealth funds in Swiss companies and whether measures are needed to regulate such events, she said. In terms of foreign investments, the council will seek to clarify which companies would be defined as having strategic importance.

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Swiss Post innovates with virtual counter

Posted by | Dec 21, 2007 | |

Switzerland’s postal authority – Swiss Post – has put a new service online to make life easier for its customers.

The aim of the virtual counter is to give internet users faster access to the services, information and products they need.

Swiss Post says that its website currently offers no fewer than 3,000 pages in German, French and Italian – 2,000 in English – and customers may not be aware of all that is on offer.

“The virtual counter was put online on Thursday and at the moment it is innovative mainly in its design and the aspect of play,” company spokeswoman Nathalie Salamin told swissinfo.

Customers in future will have a single sign-on and the number of links will be reduced from the current 110 to about 40, the aim being to make it easier to search for information.

The virtual post office counter has eight sections – transactions, travel, franking, sending, search/find, receiving, buying and communicating.

It is aimed mainly at private clients and new functions are expected to be added next year.

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EU lawmakers approve full mail competition from 2011

Posted by | Dec 18, 2007 | |

A committee of European Union lawmakers on last Tuesday 18th December approved EU plans to open the bloc’s 88 billion euro (USD130 billion) postal markets to full competition, setting the stage for final approval next month.
The European Parliament’s transport committee voted 37 to 2, with six abstentions, in favour of market liberalisation.
EU member states have approved the proposal and it will be debated before the full parliament on Jan. 30, with a vote set for Jan. 31. If it passes unchanged, as expected, the directive will become law.
The market for letters weighing up to 50 grams is currently shielded from competition. Mail above that weight is fully liberalised. The new measure would liberalise all mail delivery.
The new directive takes effect in 13 countries in 2011. The 12 new member states, along with Luxembourg and Greece, have until 2013.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the communist-led GUE/NGL bloc and Green Party members had sought to adopt amendments, including scrapping the measure. They were outvoted on 35 amendments and withdrew another 37.
The measure has sparked protests by postal workers in many EU nations, especially France, who fear job losses.

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Post Office Networks Abroad

Posted by | Dec 14, 2007 | |

This information was collected as part of the background for Postcomm’s work on the future role of the UK’s network of Post Office branches. It provides a brief overview of the common issues faced by post office networks abroad and how governments and postal operators have tackled them.
Covers: Austria / Australia / Belgium / Canada / Denmark / Finland / France / Germany / Republic of Ireland / Italy / Japan / Netherlands / Norway / New Zealand / Portugal / Spain / Sweden / Switzerland / UK / USA
P:LibraryPostalPostComm Formal DocumentsPost Office networks abroad Dec03.pdf

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The UPU publishes its world postal statistics for 2006

Posted by | Dec 10, 2007 | |

Letter volumes are stabilizing, the growth in parcel volumes is continuing, and postal revenue is sharply up: these are the three major trends highlighted in the worldwide postal statistics for 2006, published today by the Universal Postal Union.
Since 1875, the UPU has gathered statistics from the operators designated by UPU members around the world to provide the universal postal service. Of the 191 UPU member countries, 163 responded to the 2006 questionnaire. The figures are therefore based on information provided by participating Posts and UPU estimates.

With a total of 433 billion mail items, domestic letter-post traffic was slightly up compared to 2005, returning to the same level as in 2000. The strongest growth was in Africa (+2.1 pct), while the Arab countries saw the biggest drop (-2.5pct). Generally speaking, advertising items had a positive impact on mail volumes, which have faced heavy competition from electronic communications over the past few years.

Volumes of international letter post (5.5 billion items) were down 2pct overall, though there was wide regional variation, with volumes up 8.1pct in the Caribbean, and down a full 15 pct in Africa.

With a total of 6.235 billion items in the domestic and international services combined, parcels traffic was up 4.8 pct compared to 2005.

The biggest rise in domestic parcels traffic was seen in Africa (+11.7). For the international service, it was Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) which saw the biggest increase (+21.4pct). The delivery of merchandise ordered via the Internet is thought to be one of the growth factors.

With a total of 204.8 billion SDR* (equivalent to 308.1 billion USD), worldwide postal revenue was up 13pct compared to 2005. This growth was shared by three-quarters of UPU member countries. Letter post still generates more than half (52.3pct) of operating revenue, but this figure was 7.7pct lower than in 2005. Meanwhile, revenue generated by parcels and logistics services rose by 6pct to contribute 27pct of global revenue. Financial products accounted for 14pct of revenue.

*SDR = Special Drawing Right, the UPU’s official unit of account. At 31 December 2006,
1 SDR was worth 1.5044 USD.

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