BY RAYNALD C RIVERA
DOHA: Doha’s hosting of the three-week long 25th Universal Postal Congress reaffirms the country’s important role in the international community with regard to organising global conferences which resulted to tangible results, the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari told the media on the eve of the official launch of the event.
“Doha has now become a capital for international conferences and the name Doha has become synonymous with success giving birth to Doha Declarations on economic, political, cultural and other aspects and this congress will not be an exception,” said the minister, adding experience, infrastructure and openness to all cultures have been the catalysts for Doha’s success in organising events.
A highlight of the event is the Doha Postal Strategy, a four-year roadmap for improving quality of service, expanding existing and developing new services for 192 member countries of the Universal Postal Union, which gives Qatar a big role in the Universal Postal Union in the next four years.
Edouard Dayan, Director General of the Universal Postal Union, said the emergence of new technology has given new opportunities to diversify services of the postal sector around the world and these and the challenges the sector faces will be the focus of the 21-day congress.
He said the postal sector is no more just about letters but other services such as e-commerce, e-finance, e-government and e-post services.
With over 380 billion letter posts, over six billion parcels and 5.45 million postal staff at 810,000 post offices, the postal sector remains a vital sector.
Having a big migrant community, Dayan said Qatar’s postal sector, therefore, has an active role to play.
Among the challenges the postal sector faces to be discussed in the congress according to Dayan are bridging digital gap, sustainability, the question of migration and using new technology for development.
It will also focus on specific aspects such as providing addresses to everyone around the world vital for many purposes such as elections, noted Dayan.
Under the theme “New world, new strategy”, the congress which is considered one of the longest will witness over 2,000 attendees from 192 countries.
It will discuss technical and operational aspects through plenary sessions and a ministerial conference that will bring ministers and other luminaries from various countries on one table to shape the postal sector’s future.
“Our goal is to develop efficient worldwide network through specific needs of regions giving even poor countries access to communication,” stressed Dayan.
The Peninsula
