The Universal Postal Union is gearing up to welcome some 200 people at a major e-commerce forum on 26-27 March 2014 to explore opportunities for unleashing the potential of the online sales boom for all stakeholders.
Given their vast networks reaching citizens everywhere, Posts are often the ones e-tailers and consumers rely on to deliver or receive goods purchased online, making finding ways to improve trade through postal services a priority for the United Nations specialized agency.
“E-commerce sales are expected to top 1.5 trillion dollars this year. As more merchants sell their products online, easing cross-border shopping and ensuring the smooth delivery of packages worldwide requires solid logistics, customs and payment solutions,” says Brazil’s Alex Nascimento, chair of the UPU’s e-commerce group. “We hope this forum could bring valuable insight into how stakeholders can work more effectively to fulfill the expected economic benefits that global e-commerce promises.”
Consumers to have their say
UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein will open the forum, which will gather Posts and their partners to highlight the opportunities offered by this fast growing business segment and address the challenges involved in meeting development and market expectations.
Keynote speeches will also be given by Hamadoun Touré, secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union, Kunio Mikuriya, secretary general of the World Customs Organization, and Mukhisa Kituyi, secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
CEOs and other high-level executives from e-tailing giants Alibaba.com, Rakuten.com, Konga.com and Etsy.com will talk about what they expect from the postal sector, while consumer associations such as the European Multichannel and Online Trade Association, EMOTA, and Brazilian Chamber of e-commerce, Camara-e.net, will tell e-tailers and the delivery industry about what consumers expect from them.
The growing importance of e-commerce to the global postal sector, as well as other digital developments, led to the creation of the UPU’s e-services committee under the Postal Operations Council to work on e-products and services development, interconnectivity issues, knowledge development and training, partnership and capacity building, and e-commerce.
Al Jazeera news presenter David Foster will co-moderate the discussions, which will be webcast from the UPU’s websitehttp://www.upu.int/.
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