Left to right: Bishar A Hussein, director general, UPU, and Holger Winklbauer, CEO, IPC
International Post Corporation (IPC) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) the United Nations agency for the postal sector have signed a new cooperation agreement to promote innovation and efficiency in the postal sector globally.
Through this cooperation agreement, the UPU and IPC agree to identify new joint activities aimed at promoting overall quality, efficiency and sustainability of postal services. By collaborating, both the UPU and IPC will share technical knowledge and expertise. Both the UPU and IPC offer technology solutions to their members to interconnect postal networks and ensure end-to-end visibility for consumers. The aim of the cooperation is to understand all available solutions and identify synergies.
Areas for cooperation will cover IT, radio frequency identification (RFID), e-commerce markets, sustainability, and industry standards and supply chain.
Both the UPU and IPC operate complementary RFID networks to provide end-to-end tracking. Through this agreement, the UPU and IPC will seek opportunities to collaborate with the aim of offering an interoperable RFID tracking global network for e-commerce.
UPU and IPC will also cooperate on providing solutions to ease conveyance of cross-border shipments, including an improved interface with third parties (airlines, carriers, customs, security).
Under the agreement, the UPU and IPC will hold a forum twice a year to review progress of the joint cooperation. The forum will also supervise five expert teams tasked with implementing all topics of common interest.
Bishar A Hussein, director general, UPU, said, “The UPU’s foremost aim is to secure the organization and improvement of postal services worldwide and to promote international collaboration in this area.
“We are therefore particularly pleased to engage in a partnership that brings measurable benefits for the industry by contributing to the development of accessible, efficient and innovative postal services in our member countries.
“This joint cooperation program supports the advancement of the UPU’s goals and strategy while conforming to its principles for cooperation with the private sector.”
Holger Winklbauer, CEO of IPC, said, “Both our organizations share the same goal of helping our member posts to enhance postal service in today’s challenging markets and to play a greater role in e-commerce delivery.
“This agreement represents a major step in our cooperation, aiming at building a mutually supportive working relationship for the benefit of the postal industry worldwide, in a context of increasingly scarce resources.”
July 3, 2017