Modernization of global postal services focus of UN-led congress

UNITED NATIONS - A new global strategy aimed at improving and harmonizing the world’s postal services is the focus of a three-week congress in Geneva led by the United Nations Universal Postal Union (UPU) which began on Tuesday.

“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,” Edouard Dayan, UPU Director General, told reporters, according to a transcript issued at UN Headquarters in New York.

According to Dayan, member countries will need to firmly commit to modernizing their postal networks to meet their social and economic development objectives.

“Far from being obsolete, postal services are still alive and well,” he said, adding that e-mail and the Internet had not rung the death knell for them.