Voice Mail

The UPU Consultative Committee is open to the private sector. In this episode, we discuss why this has happened, and we speak with some of the new private sector members of the Consultative Committee:

• Alexander Thern-Svanberg (Secretary, UPU Consultative Committee) discusses the reasoning behind opening the UPU Consultative Committee to the private sector
• How the Consultative Committee is organised
• Embracing a private sector perspective
• Egon Veermae, COO at Eurora Group, talks about technology and cross-border
• Solving the pain points of cross-border e-commerce
• How private sector members can contribute to the Consultative Committee and the postal world
• Andrii Shapovalov, co-founder at Stampsdaq, talks about Stampsdaq's evolving relationship with the UPU
• Capitalising on stamps' heritage with new technology, creating new revenue lines for postal operators
• Yuichiro Ishibashi, Deputy Vice President, International Business Development, Security and Automation Systems Division, Toshiba
• Understanding international standards for letters and parcels

The World Customs Organization (WCO) represents 185 Customs administrations that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade.

In the era of digitalization, these border authorities find themselves in the epicentre of global e-commerce, influencing the country’s economic competitiveness, defining the ability of its small businesses to reach global markets, and protecting its citizens from illicit trade.

With the level of national Customs development becoming the touchstone of overall socioeconomic performance, it is imperative to ensure that this development is speedy, harmonized and coordinated. This is where the WCO, with its mandate to build capacities and promote cooperation, comes in to fill in the gaps.

A few days ahead of the WCO-UPU Global Conference 2023, dedicated to cross-border e-commerce, Ian Kerr spoke to Dr Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary-General, about the evolving role of Customs, the challenges and opportunities they have in common with the postal sector, the importance of trust for the smooth movement of goods across borders, and why cooperation, specifically with the Post, is in Customs’ DNA.

Sophie Gligorievic, Head of Logistics Division at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), joins us to talk about humanitarian logistics and supply chain:

• Are there differences between the humanitarian supply chain and the commercial supply chain?
• Increased pressure on supply chain, including supply chain transparency and diversity
• ERP and supply chain
• Digital transformation and logistics
• Cooperation with international and local organisations
• How ICRC and humanitarian organisations leverage local postal networks to deliver aid
• Partnerships during the pandemic
• Integrating sustainability into the supply chain and the quest for decarbonisation
• Posts collaborating with the ICRC

Isaac Gnamba-Yao, CEO of La Poste Côte d'Ivoire, joins us in this episode of Voice Mail to discuss:

• Preparations for the 27th Universal Postal Congress
• Major challenges facing La Poste Côte d'Ivoire and postal operators in the region
• Postal innovations at La Poste Côte d'Ivoire
• Appealing to the digital generation
• Role of the post in socio-economic development
• Building e-commerce
• The importance of partnerships for postal operators
• Impact of the pandemic on La Poste Côte d'Ivoire
• Post office of the future

In Saudi Arabia, a young and ambitious country strategically positioned at the intersection of three continents, the postal sector shares the dynamism, ambition, and boldness of the nation’s Vision 2030.

In recent years, the country’s postal services have undergone profound transformations, including transferring the authority for the sector from the Ministry of Communications to the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, allowing data to take centre stage in setting postal strategy, diversifying the post into healthcare, and supporting government services for improved quality of life.

These strides do not only dramatically increase the postal value proposition to customers, making the post more relevant, but they also put Saudi Post in the spotlight as a regional leader and an interesting global success story.

The post views seizing the opportunities of digital transformation, using technology in new and creative ways, and forging forward-looking partnerships as fundamental elements in the success of its new business model.

Just a few days ahead of the historic UPU Extraordinary Congress in Riyadh, Ian Kerr spoke to H.E. Anef Abanomi, President of Saudi Post, about how the postal operator is turning into a touchpoint between government agencies, businesses and their customers, what digitalization has to do with it, and what hosting the global postal community means to the country.