A workshop and symposium on latest trends in EMS — the Express Mail Service offered by postal operators around the world — organized by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) concluded with the Dubai Declaration that urged the postal sector in the Arab region to take advantage of the global growth of e-commerce by joining the UPU’s E-Commerce Special Delivery Program (ECOMPRO).

The Declaration called for enhancing the customer experience, meeting the requirements of customs and security authorities regarding electronic data for parcels and EMS shipments through improved tracking systems and adopting the manifest system for electronic data exchange between postal operators and customs authorities.

Mr. Abdullah Mohammed Al Ashram, CEO of Emirates Post, noted that the declaration will enhance the ongoing discussions with the customs authorities in the Arab countries in order to reduce the processing time and simplify the procedures in response to the rapid changes in the transportation and logistics services sector.  It will also support the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by implementation of simplified export and import procedures to boost international trade, Al Ashram added.

The workshop was organized by the UPU, in cooperation with the Permanent Arab Postal Committee, Emirates Post Group and Le Groupe La Poste of France. It was attended by representatives of postal authorities from Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tunisia. The theme of the workshop was ‘quality of service improvement, the supply chain and e-commerce development through EMS in the Arab region.’

The workshop forms part of the UPU’s development plan for the Arab region and the Business Plan for the period 2013 – 2016, which is aimed at strengthening the readiness of the Arab region to meet the needs of e-commerce.

According to UPU figures, while letter volumes have been declining in recent years globally, packets and parcels traffic has been going up. More significantly, e-commerce is opening up new opportunities, with B2B and B2C merchandise set for a boom. The e-commerce boom is generating more business for posts as they deliver purchases made online, especially for the B2C market.

EMS exports in 2014 reached 54.5 million items globally, an increase of 9 % over 2013 figures. Europe saw the biggest increase of 32%, followed by the Arab region (12%), Asia Pacific (8%) and the Caribbean (3%).

At the end of the workshop, the EMS unit of the UPU honored Emirates Post Group for hosting the event, and certificates were presented to all participants.