New Delhi, June 24 (UNI) Delegates from 22 countries in Africa are participating in the ‘India Africa Postal Leaders Meet’ being held here from June 21 to 25, with the objective of further strengthening the relationship in the postal sector between the African countries and India.
The key theme of the meet is capacity building, through study visits.
The study visits showcase India’s successful model of service delivery through its extensive post office network.
India Post’s unique approach of combining digital services with traditional postal service delivery to maintain the human touch has garnered international attention and inspired the holding of this meet by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), a statement said.
The Postal Leaders Meet provided a platform for mutual learning and exploration of new collaborative opportunities.
India Post is demonstrating the delivery of a wide array of services through India Post, including e-commerce parcels, Dak Niryat Kendras (postal centres supporting export) and postal financial services and the services provided by the India Post Payments Bank. Delivery of various citizen-centric services by India Post, such as Aadhaar enabled services, Passport services and Digital Life Certificate is also being showcased. Special focus has been given to the transformative Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Aadhaar’s role in bolstering digital infrastructure in India, the statement added.
Addressing the delegates in New Delhi today, Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani emphasized that India has always advocated close cooperation to achieve UPU’s mission of the world becoming a single postal territory through seamless postal supply chains, with the strengthening of development cooperation activities to improve global postal services.
He referred to India’s commitment towards the Global South and Africa in particular. He said that India Post will work closely with the Posts in Africa to find collaborative solutions to postal challenges at the global scale, specially in the fields of cross-border e-commerce and financial inclusion, with effective technology enablement. He also assured India’s continued support to the countries in Africa in the area of training and capacity building through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme.
While appreciating the successful organisation of the Summit, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Minister of Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, shared, “This initiative underscores our commitment to fostering stronger Indo-Africa ties through the platform of postal services. I am confident that this program will not only facilitate exchange of best practices, but also enhance the global postal network for last mile delivery of services.”
The delegates expressed gratitude to the Department of Posts, Government of India for hosting a productive and forward-looking event that aligns with the shared vision and goals for the postal sector in the Global South.
The event was attended by senior representatives from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Customs, UIDAI, NPCI, India Post Payments Bank and Members of the Postal Services Board.
The Meet is also significant in the backdrop of India’s initiative of organizing the ‘Voice of Global South Summit’ and the India-Africa forum and inclusion of the African Union in the G20 during India’s Presidency in 2023.
