Established in 1874, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) with its Headquarters in Berne (Switzerland), is the primary forum for cooperation between postal-sector players and helps to ensure a truly universal network of up-to-date products and services.

The UPU has for objective to develop social, cultural and commercial communication between people through the efficient operation of the postal service. As an inter-governmental institution, the UPU is called upon to play an important leadership role in promoting the continued revitalisation of postal services.

- Postal services of Algeria :

- Postal services of Greece :

ELTA’s Company Profile

History & Milestones

The Hellenic Post holds the leading position in the Greek postal market and has been playing for 179 years a significant role in both the social and the business environment of the country. The Postal Organization is an integral part of the Greek society and its history begins with the constitution of the Greek modern State. In 1828 the Hellenic Post was established as a Public Service, following a decree of the first Governor of the liberalized and newly founded Greek State, Ioannis Kapodistrias.
In 1970, the Postal Service acquires the status of a Legal Entity of Private Law, entitled “Hellenic Post” (ELTA), and in 1996 turns into a Société Anonyme, under the brand name ELTA S.A.
In 1998, a major and most ambitious modernization and restructuring program strikes out, aiming at improving the quality of the provided services, increasing the productivity and optimising the utilization of the company’s human resources. 1999 is the first year during which the company registers a profitable output and lays the foundation for a substantial growth.

In 2004, ELTA, always taking the field in major events, is appointed Grand National Sponsor of the Athens Olympic Games.

2006 is a milestone in the history of the company, since the implementation of an investment program amounting to 200 million € reaches its peak, covering the 5-year period 2004-2008.

At the same time this very year marks the starting point of the company’s new developmental course, which is characterized by the expansion of its products portfolio, the enhancement of financial products and services and the formation of strategic alliances.

The acquisition of shares and the new commercial cooperation with the “Greek Postal Savings Bank” in 2006 gives ELTA the prospect to shape a fresh developmental course, through which it will make the best possible utilization of the country’s most extensive network, comprising about 1.000 Postal Outlets, 1.000 Postal Agencies, 3.500 urban and 1.000 rural delivery personnel.

Prospects of Growth

The company is riding high in the new century and has evolved into a contemporary, integrated Group that provides services, offers a wide range of postal and financial services both to private users and firms and records 100 million transactions and 60 million customer visits on its premises per year.

Development for ELTA means:
• High quality in the provision of services and in customer service
• Respect for the Customer
• Continuous development of Human Resources
• Investments in high-end technology
• Increased revenues and wider profitability margin


A set of actions and interventions has been designed and is currently being implemented, with a view to transforming ELTA into a modern, automated and at the same time socially sensitive company.
Planning and solidly implementing this action plan vouch for the continuation of our upward course for the years to come. We give flesh and blood to our Vision for a contemporary, efficient and innovative Organization, leader in every field of action it is involved in and with a powerful presence in the New Economy.
The integrated solutions for direct mail, the banking services and insurance products, the telecommunications and mobile telephony products, as well as the internet services represent significant choices for a steady development.
In parallel, the various investments in infrastructure are rising to the occasion in order to complement and support those choices.
The automated Sorting Center of A.M.U and the Sorting Center of Attiki are already in full operation, while the plants are being erected and the automatization systems are being installed, at a fast pace, for two major Sorting Centers in Thessaloniki and Patra. The strategic objective behind this investment is for ELTA to own and operate a state-of-the-art network of automated sorting centers, capable of processing 85% of the total mail volume of Greece, by 2008.

The basic tool of the company’s development is I.T., which is why the Organization has maximized investments in this sector, such as counter automation, upgrading of the Integrated Information System, installation and operation of infrastructure for Hybrid Mail, Internet Service Stations and Telematics Systems for monitoring ELTA’s vehicle fleet.

The Company places great importance on its human resources and the “Economy of Knowledge” as sectors of utmost importance. To this end a long-range project of training activities is under implementation, with a view to developing and expanding the knowledge and skills of its personnel, so that they will be in a position to incorporate most effectively the investments under way as well as the changes to be brought about in the organization of the production chain.


Future Perspectives

ELTA is rapidly changing, is getting stronger, is improving and is laying the foundation to maintain its important role in the Greek economy, in order to contribute to the national effort for development.
Planning and striving will not be confined in the present era, but will go on through the elaboration of a new frame of action, which will carry the Group to the following decade, not only as a leader but also as a pioneer of development, innovation and value creation for the social partners while paying particular attention to its People and the Society.
 

- Postal services of Egypt :

The Arab Republic of Egypt is a vast desert plateau interrupted by the Nile River and Delta, where over 90% of the population live. These regions are amongst the worlds most densely populated. The population is estimated at approx. 78 million, the largest in the Arab world.
Egypt Post has been serving this population, households, businesses and governmental entities with the ability to communicate and conduct business with each other and the world for over 140 years. It was established in 1865 with the financial services being introduced in 1901. The main structural elements of Egypt Posts network are its outlets, postmen and mailboxes. Egypt Post provides services to the Egyptian population of 78 million located in 218 cities and 4500 villages, of which 15 million are savings account holders. It has 50,000 employees, 3,600 offices, 120 centres and 1,300 vehicles. Furthermore, it manages business relations with 1,200 certified postal agents. Its assets are worth 46 billion Egyptian Pounds.
Egypt Post is a governmental owned and run entity that operates as an independent economic organisation affiliated to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, but is granted more autonomy than most public services through the laws 16/1970 and 19/1982, involving the ability to form joint stock companies and deal directly with leading institutions.
Egypt Post has numerous strengths that pave the way to position it as a very efficient socio-economic service organisation. Egypt Post has always maintained financial stability through its financial services and thus gained customer trust over the years. Currently, there are 15 million savings account customers and this trend is continuing to rise. Moreover, it is well known for its low threshold access and no start-up costs, which allows all citizens with various income levels or social backgrounds to comfortably seeking its services. This, together with the fact that its offices are spread all over the country, even rural areas, allows it to reach people and places where even telephone lines are not yet available, create a personal relationship, making the postman a trusted person being the connection with the outside world. This extensive distribution network is an element that will be utilised further after the restructuring of Egypt Post. To capitalise on its strength to use Egypt Posts potential as a social economic driver, it began re-structuring in 2002 with highly visible upgrading to get the attention of customers and policy makers and raise the moral of staff. Image improvements and simple changes in operations were undertaken in order to refresh the organisations staff and improve public perception.
To ensure a fully fledged and sustainable restructuring, Egypt Post has gone through a comprehensive analysis of the business market and examined carefully all strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and challenges. It explored best practices and past experiences worldwide in the same area and referred to UPU, other international organisations and all relevant case studies.
After the assessment of all available data and information, a model was created specifying main pillars that laid the foundation for implementing Egypt Posts transformation process, namely restructuring the organisation, HR development, revisiting and modernising all processes and procedures, utilising the latest in ICT and becoming more customer centric and market oriented.
Egypt Post coordinated with international institutions such as the World Bank and specialised consultancy firms to advise on the restructure and modernise the Egypt Post.
All aspects of Egypt Posts capacity building program, prepare the organisation to realise its full business potential. In order to fulfil social and economic role and be capable of competing in a global liberal market, operating in the information age and governed by aggressive competition, Egypt Post decided to carry out a comprehensive business development reform covering two main areas, Services and Investment. We are modernising our portfolio of services to include e-based services such as electronic postmark EPM and CMS and other modern postal services. In its efforts to capitalise on its huge customer base and the capillarity of its network, Egypt Post has invested in the third mobile operator, Etisalat Misr. At present, Egypt Post offers 24 services which include savings accounts, current accounts, postal orders, recharge phone cards, ATM’s, giro’s etc, to name but a few.
Out of the conviction that Egypt Post has an important role to play in the process of economic development, MCIT (Ministry of Communication and Information Technology) is supporting the ambitious transformation program aimed at improving the quality of services provided to the public, whilst generating more revenue for the country at the same time.
The government has committed to liberalise the postal market sector by 2009, allowing competition between the governmental Egypt Post and private sector companies, to ensure the provision of the highest quality service to all. In the meantime, Egypt Post provides courier licences to private sector companies that want to enter the Egyptian market. There are 8 private companies who are providing services.
MCIT is in the process of establishing the Postal Sector Policy Unit to act as the regulator of the postal sector, responsible for defining postal market standards and enforcing their implementation to ensure that market liberalisation of the postal sector is socially advantageous and non-exploitive.
Egypt Post operates a free economy where the market is driven by intensive deregulation efforts in the telecommunication and legal sector, aiming at creating an enabling environment for the diffusion of ICT application in all aspects. It is a business market that encourages private sector development, pursues financial reform, and promotes foreign direct investments as well as supporting mutual cooperation with international entities and public private partnerships.
 

- Post services of Morocco :

Creation :

In 1998 in application of Law 24-96 and separation of the Post and Telecommunications sectors.

Status :

State owned company

Management :

Board of Directors chaired by the Prime Minister

Operations :

•           Mail

•           Parcels

•           Financial Services

Highlights of 2006 :

•           Staff : 8,170 employees

•           Retail network : 1,685 points of sales including almost 900 of which are computerised 

Mail – Parcels (end of 2006):

•         Turnover in 2006         : 691 MDH

•         56% of total turnover

•         Mail Volume : 281.3 million items

Financial Services (end of 2006):

•         Turnover in 2006         : 522 MDH

•         44% of total turnover

•         Number of ATMs: 372

•         Number of card holders: 424,000

•         Number of Domestic Money Transfers: 6,653,293

•         Number of International Money Transfers: 1,887,513

Financial Performances in 2006 :

           Turnover : 1,214,000,000 DH

- Postal services of  Italy:

Poste Italiane between tradition and innovation

In recent years Poste Italiane has been involved in a deep reorganization process aimed at improving quality ofservice and extending its offer of products and services. This strategic vision, paralleled by heavy investments in infrastructures and training, has rapidly allowed the company to considerably enhance efficiency and, thus, to improve staff skills, upgrade post offices, increase customer satisfaction and to close the 2006 balance with a profitability rate ranking the Group as the No.1 major postal operator in Europe.

Along this fast evolution process, Poste Italiane has managed to preserve the pillars of its corporate mission, namely the wide territorial extension of its network – with 14,000 post offices, over 70,000 working stations and 150,000 employees – besides its traditional vocation for satisfying the needs of its large customer base, including private individuals, businesses and public administrations, by developing diversified services tailored to meet both client and market requirements. As a result of these achievements, for the first time this year Poste Italiane appears in Fortune magazine’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies as No. 10 in the ranking of the delivery industry.

Financial results: 5 years of profitability

After 50 years of losses, innovation combined with efficiency paved the way for a successful process - resulting in 5 consecutive profitable balances – whose current size is clearly expressed by the following figures:

• net profit: 675.6 m € (+94% vs. 2005);

• operating results: 1.48 b € (+46% vs. 2005);

• total revenue: 17.1 b € (+3.5% vs. 2005);

• performance: +9.5% in financial services; +2.5% in postal services; +0.3% in insurance services;

• leading company’s net profit: 483 m € (vs. 248 m € in 2005 = +94.8%).

In 2006, for the first time, the results achieved allowed the Group to share dividends adding up to 117 m € between its shareholders (Ministry of the Treasury and Public Development Fund).

In view of full market liberalization, Poste Italiane has reshaped its mission on the three following points:

1. continuing the innovation process by launching new financial services;

2. extending the offer and improving the quality of letter mail services;

3. consolidating the existing logistic platforms.

Poste Italiane’s leadership in the European postal system: the Italian model

The existing figures prove Poste Italiane’s pioneering role in relaunching the traditional postal system by exploring the financial sector with a view to developing a wide range of secure and diversified services. Hence, Poste Italiane has also progressively become a strategic reference for other similarly oriented businesses in Europe, which is confirmed, among other things, by the development plans announced by La Banque Postale in France and Royal Mail in the UK.

Both companies are now focusing on the relationship between technological innovation and increasing productivity, as well as on a different concept of post offices as multi-functional financial counters capable of meeting the needs of nowadays customers. In other words, France and the UK are now following the same reorganization process started some years ago and successfully carried out by Poste Italiane, which, thus, represents a model among other European countries.

Towards liberalization: ready to face the challenge

Poste Italiane believes that overcoming the domestic concept of competition represents an enormous growth opportunity and is, therefore, ready to face the challenges set by full postal market liberalization in Europe. This belief is grounded on the deep technical innovation process started some years ago in view of full market opening as of 1 January 2009, which is perceived as an opportunity to access new markets and, thus, to develop a range of international services and products designed to meet the expectations of customers abroad.

The intrinsic challenges of progressive liberalization are paralleled by an articulate ongoing 700 million €/year investment plan concerning infrastructures and staff training that enhances Poste Italiane’s presence and competitiveness on the European market.

International agreements: Poste Italiane’s partnerships with global players

Poste Italiane’s development plans comprise a special focus on the establishment of partnerships with international players, such as, for instance, the agreement with the US giant UPS for the management of cross border EMS volumes, which was announced on 19 October 2006 and represents a typical example of the company’s trend towards building international alliances and its capability to face the global market.

The first major partnership is the agreement with Microsoft, whereby Poste Italiane now is the first postal operator having its own button on the Office toolbar. The menu “Poste Italiane” available on Word and Excel allows to send registered items from a PC: Poste Italiane confirms day and time of acceptance, prints, envelopes and delivers the items in the same ways and times provided for traditional paper items.

Another example of the company’s level of advancement is the digital postmark, i.e. a service developed in cooperation with Microsoft for the Universal Postal Union (the UN body comprising 192 member countries) ensuring content integrity of digital communications. Poste Italiane and Microsoft are currently working at an integrated platform for retail, business and public administration customers, that will allow to access Poste Italiane’s postal and financial services via PC, mobile phone and digital TV. Other significant technological partnerships have been established with IBM and HP, for quality of service and servers & storage, respectively.

Moreover, an agreement was reached last year between Poste Italiane and the French La Poste for the launching of a financial and insurance product called “Euro-Poste Primo”, developed jointly by the Italian Group’s subsidiary Poste Vita with La Poste’s Services Financiers for simultaneous distribution in both countries. This agreement is the first one of this kind in Europe.

Financial services: BancoPosta as an outsider

The process of continuously extending the offer has produced excellent results, above all as regards financial services, a segment where Poste Italiane has taken the leadership at domestic level and paved the way in Europe ever since the establishment, in the late Nineties, of the BancoPosta division and the integration of the traditional offer of savings books and postal bonds with a wide range of financial products (such as the BancoPosta current account, the pre-paid card called “Postepay”, insurance policies, bonds, common investment funds, personal loans and mortgages). Among these products, the pre-paid card Postepay certainly represents the major case history in Poste Italiane’s recent years: almost 3 million people in Italy (i.e. 60% of the market) have chosen and appreciated the flexibility and convenience of this pre-paid and rechargeable card allowing also non postal current account holders to purchase and draw cash from ATM’s all over the country, free of charge.

The success of Postepay confirms Poste Italiane’s primary role in the distribution of new electronic payment tools. Altogether, Poste Italiane has issued approximately 8 million payment cards, thereby becoming the leading Group in Europe in this specific sector. By adding financial products to core postal services, Poste Italiane has combined its traditional mission as service provider with the need for attracting new customers and successfully achieved significant innovation, efficiency and budgetary objectives. In particular, the company has been capable of identifying and retaining a considerable market share, so far not ascribable to Poste Italiane’s traditional customers, by offering electronically managed products ensuring real-time cash and fully secure online transactions.

Moreover, by promoting the development of financial services, over these years, Poste Italiane has had a key role in the gradual social and economic integration of immigrants living in Italy, 405,000 of which are current account holders, whereas over 500,000 are savings books holders and almost 200,000 Postepay holders abroad. These figures provide evidence of the company’s reputation and product reliability also as regards financial services designed for foreign customers. Finally, mention is to be made to the 9,000 counters offering, in cooperation with MoneyGram, transfer services for immigrants needing to send money abroad.

An ongoing commitment for innovation

Poste Italiane’s investment plan has enabled the company to provide highly advanced services, thereby identifying it as one of the major modernization and development drivers in Italy. The entire postal system is governed by one of the most modern existing IT infrastructures, which allows to extend the offer by simplifying and enhancing those services currently available via the Internet, the phone, self service machines and soon digital TV. Customer perception is expressed by the following figures: on average, every day, 1 million people call at any of the existing 14,000 post offices, 7.5 billion postal items are posted and 20 million financial transactions are carried out in real time. Private individuals, businesses and public administrations have taken advantage of Poste Italiane’s wide range of services and fully reliable postal and financial transactions. However, Poste Italiane keeps promoting, in particular, its highly value added e-Government services for streamlining and speeding up administrative processes. This strong innovative trend has determined an ongoing improvement of quality of service as a result of an articulate distance staff training programme including 70,000 training days for 2,500 e-Learning stations.

- Postal service of  Portugal :

OBJECT OF THE COMPANY
CTT’s object is as follows:
 the establishment, management and operation of the public postal service infra-structures;
 the undertaking of any complementary, subsidiary or accessory activities to those mentioned above;
 the provision of financial services, including fund transfers via current accounts that can also be operated by a financial or parabanking institution to be created under the parent company CTT.

MISSION
CTT is entrusted with the Mission of establishing physical and electronic links between citizens, Public Administration, businesses and social organisations in general. Its postal tradition will progressively be strengthened and enlarged to business activities and areas in which the company’s logistics and communications strengths may efficiently be placed at the service of customers.
In the domestic market, CTT’s aim is to be the leader in every business area which it already operates or comes to operate in the future.
In the international sphere, the Company will undertake a policy of partnerships and/or related acquisitions by entering or strengthening its position in relevant external markets, so as to progressive growth in value of the shareholder’s capital.

ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
The year 2006 was characterised by three main factors – growth, profitability and increase of the shareholder’s capital. The good results were obtained in a difficult environment influenced by cost-cutting measures taken by the big mailers, by the electronic communications substitution effect, and by increasing competition.
Net profit amounted to 66.9 million Euro corresponding to a 286 per cent increase vis-à-vis 2005. The main reasons for this performance are the businesses acquired by the Group and cost control measures in an environment of postal volume decrease.
During this period, consolidated operating revenue rose by 5 per cent to 796.2 million Euro pushed by the development of new businesses, e.g. CTT Expresso and Tourline Express companies in the CEP market, and by the acquisition of a 51 per cent stake of EAD, a company specialising in record management. Growth in PayShop (Portugal) offset the drop in revenue from the payments activities of the postal financial services provided by the parent Company.
Consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) grew by 36 per cent to 79.3 million Euro, providing a 10 per cent operating margin, two percentage points better than in 2005.
The good operational performance of the company and the adjustment of responsibilities in terms of post-retirement health care gave rise to these historical results. For that reason, the distribution of a one-Euro dividend per share will be proposed, totalling 17.5 million Euro, which corresponds to 20 per cent of the share capital.

PERSPECTIVES
In carrying out business in accordance with its Vision, CTT will be a powerful multiservice platform aiming to meet the citizens and the economic agents’ needs through a commercial and logistics network of high quality, efficiency and proximity to the Client. It will be an essential element to the social and economic development of the country, contributing to higher life standards of its customers and employees, through its dynamic approach and exemplary culture of service and sense of social responsibility.
In connection with the general defined objectives – the Supply of a High Quality Service; the Creation Value for the Shareholder; and the Promotion and Motivation of people –, the following strategic objectives were adopted: Promote growth and maintain leadership in current businesses; Develop new business areas; and Generate growth through innovation.

AFFILIATED COMPANIES
PostContacto (100%) – Delivery of Unaddressed Mail.
CTT Expresso (100%) – Urgent mail and merchandise transport and delivery both domestically and internationally.
Tourline Express (Espagne) (100%) – Express Courier and parcels all over the Spanish territory.
Payshop (100%) – Service payment and mobile phones top up network.
CTT Gest (100%) – Postal services and equipments management.
Mailtec Holding (100%): Mailtec TI (mail preparation services); DSTS (IT development systems).
Campos Envelopagem (70%) – Finishing Services.
EAD (51%) – Document recording company.
Multicert (20%) – Supply of technological solutions in the field of electronic certification.
CTT IMO (50%) – Project development, construction and management of postal premises.
 

- Postal services of Spain :

- Postal service of Tunisia :

Tunisia post
Status : State owned company
Address : Rue Hédi Nouira 1030 Tunis
Tel : 71 839 153
Fax : 71 834.833
E-mail : onp@poste.tn   website :  www.poste.tn

Activity : Communication Technologies
Products : Postal and Finacial Services and online services (e-business, e-logistic, e-finance …)
Staff (2006): 9,000 employees (including 17 % managers).