Addis Ababa August 03/2018 The Universal Postal Union (UPU), a UN special regulatory agency, is holding its five-day extraordinary congress in Ethiopia, the first time hosted in Africa.
Opening the congress today, President Mulatu Teshome said Africa needs to improve quality of service and cope up with modernized postal industry for sustainable development.
He noted that “integrated postal development is aligned with Ethiopia’s growth and transformation plan.”
UPU Director-General, Bishar A. Hussein appreciated Ethiopia’s commitment to host UPU’s Second Extraordinary Congress ever in Africa in its over hundred years of membership.
Implementation of the UPU’s integrated product plan and the integrated remuneration plan, reform of the UPU, reform of the system applied to contributions by UPU member countries, and sustainability of the UPU Provident Scheme will be discussed in the meeting taking place from 3-7 September 2018, it was indicated.
Ministry of Communications and Information Technology Minister, Ubah Mohamed said “the agendas of this event are most crucial for the sustainability of the UPU and for the future of the postal sector. It will be a milestone and memorable event in the history of UPU.”
“The presence of ICT in the postal sector in Africa is far behind the continent in providing electronic services. Thus, the postal sector in Africa requires more efforts to utilize ICT in rendering the postal service,” she added.
The Universal Postal Union was formed in 1874 and has currently 192 state members.
ENA