DUBAI, 15 November 2006 — The three-day Universal Postal Union (UPU) Strategy Conference was inaugurated in Dubai yesterday by Sheikh Maktoum ibn Mohammed ibn Rashid Al-Maktoum, chairman of the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority.

It is the first time the UPU conference has been held outside Switzerland, where the organization is headquartered. The meeting, held every four years, will analyze current issues and challenges that confront the global postal sector. It will also explore ways of building a dynamic postal infrastructure worldwide to cater to growing customer needs.

Over 40 ministers from UPU member countries and a large number of high profile delegations from postal corporations were present. In his opening address, Sultan ibn Saeed Al-Mansouri, UAE minister for government sector development and chairman of Emirates Post, said the UAE was honored to host such a huge gathering of postal decision-makers, which would further consolidate the UAE’s position on the world map as the venue for world-class events.

He expressed the hope that the assembling of so many experts under one roof would lead to solutions that will give a new direction to postal services worldwide.

Commending the UPU for playing a major role in fostering cooperation among the 191 member countries, Al-Mansouri said: “The UPU has been actively promoting the faster movement of mail at affordable rates and helping members raise standards by adopting new systems and technology.”

Abdullah Al-Daboos, director general of Emirates Post, said the region’s postal organizations would benefit greatly from the UPU Strategy Conference.

The conference will lay the foundation for the Nairobi World Postal Strategy Congress, said Edouard Dayan, director general of the UPU. “This international gathering enables us to bring together stakeholders in various sectors ... to discuss in an open environment the questions that will shape the next World Postal Strategy.”

Key topics to be discussed are globalization, movements of population, increased usage of new technologies, competition, customer requirements, the role of the postal sector in the information society, postal reform and the transformation of the postal sector.

Among the key participants are Sergei Ordzhonikidze, director general of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Alan Bryden, secretary general of the International Organization for Standardization, and Brunson McKinley, director general of the International Organization for Migration are participating in the conference. Pascal Lamy, Director General of the World Trade Organization, conveyed his message to the audience via satellite link. The Mutahi Kagwe, minister for Information and Communications in Kenya, and Alpha Oumar Konaré, Chairman of the African Union Commission, also took part in the opening session.

The World Postal Strategy is a four-year inter-Congress roadmap for the postal sector. The Congress is the UPU’s supreme authority. The next World Postal Strategy will be adopted at the 2008 Universal Postal Congress in Nairobi.

Meanwhile, Sultan ibn Saeed Al Mansouri, minister of Government Sector Development, discussed mail services issues on Monday with managers from the GCC at his office.

The discussions focused on several issues facing the performance of the mail services in the GCC and emphasized the activation of a common mail project. The project, known as Gulf Express, has been successfully implemented in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The GCC representatives agreed to meet regularly to boost communications among the six nations and expedite the shared project. The move is seen as an essential step in improving the performance of mail services across the Gulf countries.