BY RAYNALD C RIVERA
DOHA: The Deputy Emir and Heir Apparent H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani graced the opening of the 25th Universal Postal Congress, the first ever edition hosted by a Gulf country, held at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) yesterday.
The Chairman of Qatar’s General Postal Corporation (Q-Post), Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Aqaily was unanimously elected chairman of the Congress.
Addressing over 2,200 delegates from 192 countries, the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage,
H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari urged the Congress to come up with new strategies to diversify the postal sector’s products and services and ways to provide much needed assistance to developing countries to meet the demands of the sector amid bourgeoning technology.
“Congress must seek to define a future strategy that will yield plans and programmes with precise objectives and the necessary financial resources for the development of markets and the diversification of products and services, assisted by new technologies that enable the development of e-commerce and postal payment services,” said Dr Al Kuwari.
“In addition, this Congress should devote a significant portion of its time to examining ways and means of aiding developing countries and providing them with technical assistance in the areas of planning, organisation, operations, training, exchange of experts and the granting of fellowships and funding, in a spirit of solidarity between members of the international community,”
he said.
Eng Mohammed Jamil bin Ahmed Al Mulla, Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia, underscored the massive effect of new technology on various sectors such as business, education and health including the postal sector.
“Postal institutions around the world must step up efforts to be competitive adapting services to digital environment taking into account the new market needs. This requires collaboration and sharing of experiences in a more intensified fashion,” said Al Mulla, lauding the indispensable role the Universal Postal Union (UPU) plays encompassing areas to bring postal sector into the digital era.
