Philipsburg, Sint Maarten — Postal Services St. Maarten (PSS) attended the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) and Universal Postal Union (UPU) 18th annual Postal Conference in the British Virgin island of Tortola.
The St. Maarten delegation arrived on Sunday in Tortola comprised of Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors (SBD) Stuart Johnson and interim-Managing Director Antonia Wilson. The conference duration was from September 14 to 18, 2015 and the conference was held at Maria’s by the Sea Hotel.
The primary purpose of the conference was to formulate a strategy to highlight and adequately address several facets within the postal Caribbean region. The St. Maarten delegation joined with a selected number of countries to form a working group which will work out improvements to the regional movement of mail traffic especially by air transport.
“PSS felt it fitting to join this working group considering that our country serves as a hub for the north eastern Caribbean especially with our two main modernized ports of entry,” PSS SBD Chairman Stuart Johnson stated.
The Honorable Prime Minister Mr. Marcel Gumbs joined the conference on Thursday morning for a two day session of the Caribbean Council of Ministers of Postal Affairs which concluded late on Friday afternoon.
“We need to look creatively at how the postal organization fits in our society today especially considering the many influences facing PSS,” Mr. Gumbs stated.
Mr. Gumbs stated, “I was truly grateful for the warm welcome received by the Honorable BVI Premier Dr. D. Orlando Smith, the BVI Post and all conference support staff.”
Johnson mentioned, “we need to continue networking regionally with our colleagues in the postal world and truly build the young organization of PSS which serves to ensure the continuity of our postal company.”
The CPU/UPU conference also focused on a number of topics such as, point of sales, postal security, regional logistics, identifying global/regional trends, E-commerce and the CPU’s 2016/2020 strategic plan.
“PSS surely gained a lot of knowledge and exposure during this conference as we continue to ensure the further growth of our postal organization. We will continue to work diligently with all stakeholders both locally as well as regionally,” PSS Interim-Managing Director Ms. Wilson stated.
The next CPU/UPU conference will be held in the twin island nation of Trinidad & Tobago in the month of May 2016.
