The Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU), with its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, was taken over by India.
Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU)
- APPU is an intergovernmental organization comprised of 32 Asian-Pacific member countries.
- It was established by an international treaty on March 27, 1981, with the signing of the Asian-Pacific Postal Convention in Yogyakarta.
- The organization was established in 1961.
- APPU is the region’s only Restricted Union of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), a United Nations specialized agency.
- The Secretary General directs the Union’s activities and is also the Director of the Asian Pacific Postal College (APPC), the region’s largest intergovernmental postal training institute.
Goals and objectives
- The goal of the APPU is to expand, facilitate, and improve postal relations among member countries, as well as to promote postal service cooperation.
- As the regional center for various UPU projects, APPU is also in charge of ensuring that all UPU technical and operational projects are completed in the region.
Importance of India’s chair
The Asia Pacific region employs roughly one-third of the world’s postal workforce and handles roughly half of the world’s mail volume.
India seeks to improve regional coordination with postal players in the Asia Pacific region in order to boost business growth through the postal network and ensure the Union’s long-term viability.
This is the first time an Indian has led an international postal organization.
Source: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1888356