South Asian Region: Posts to Push for Regional Business Cooperation

The academic world has seen a debate of sorts in recent times on the postal sector in developing countries. The debate, more specifically, has been economic in character, on the possible role of the Post Office as a driver of economic and social development. A Regional Postal Business Meet (RPBM)of the national postal operators of SAARC countries held at New Delhi in February 2011 has generated considerable optimism on the capability of the Posts to play such a facilitating role in the region.

           

The advent of new information and communication technologies, no doubt, has posed challenges to the Post. Yet, it exists, and serves a customer base that is virtually the entire population of the world. Examples have emerged in recent years from different parts of the world for ways to develop postal networks in sustainable ways, while they simultaneously contribute to the nations’ economic development. The thoughts and ideas at the RPBM focused on regional cooperation for such a sustainable development.

The participating Posts were those of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, apart from hosts India. Nepal Post could not make it to the Meet due to some domestic commitments.

The Meet discussed specific areas for cooperation in postal services, including :

• Introduction of logistic services.
• Development of Postal E-Commerce, particularly keeping the integration needs of individuals, micro enterprises and other small businesses in view.
• New Parcel and Express Products, tailored for trade facilitation in the region.
•  Constitution of a South Asian Postal Union and General Regulations of the South Asian Postal Union.
• Initiate money remittance services.
• Enhanced cooperation for business development in the region.
• Sharing best practices in postal business.

The need for bringing together the physical, electronic and financial dimensions of the postal networks of the seven countries of the South Asian Region was recognized, and the potential of such a cooperation for enhancing business cooperation among the countries and fostering economic growth was underlined.

The RPBM concluded with the signing of a joint statement by the Heads of the Delegations. It was agreed that this joint statement is a step in furthering postal cooperation in the South Asian region for facilitating sustainable development.