Commemorative Postage Stamp on
50Th Anniversary of Asian – Pacific Postal Union April 1, 2012:- The Asian
Pacific Postal Union (Appu0 is an inter-governmental organization of 33 postal
administrations of the Asia-Pacific region. APPU is affiliated to the Universal
Postal Union (UPU) which is a specialized agency of the United Nations. The
purpose of the APPU is to extend, facilitate and improve postal relations
between member countries and to promote cooperation in the field of postal
services.
Brief History:- The idea of a
restricted union in this part of the world came up first in the late 1950s. In
order to give a concrete shape to the idea, after informal discussions, the
Philippines government sent through diplomatic channel the invitations to 18
countries for a roundtable in Manila on 10-23 January 1961. Among the countries
invited were Afghanistan, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. The roundtable drew up the Asian Oceanic
Postal Convention.
The Convention was to come into
force on 1 April 1962. On that date, we formed a union among ourselves called
“Asian Oceanic Postal Union” which later on was renamed as the actual
“Asian-Pacific Postal Union” by the 4th AOPU Congress held in Yogyakarta in
1981. We then established our headquarters in Manila with Mr. Enrico Palomar,
Postmaster General of the Philippines as our first Director. The headquarters
was relocated to Bangkok in 2002.
In due course others countries of
the Asia-Pacific region joined this regional postal union making it today an
inter-governmental body of 33 countries namely ; Afghanistan, Australia,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran,
Japan, Kiribati, Korea, Lao, Malaysia, Maldives, Mangolia, Myanmar, Nauru,
Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore,
Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
Organization:- The Congress, the
Executive Council and the Bureau are the three organs of the Union. The main
functions of these three organs are:
Congress:- The Congress is the
supreme organ of the Union and composed of representatives of member countries.
The representatives of the member countries of the Union meet in Congress not
later than two years after holding of each Universal Postal Congress in order
to revise the Acts of the Union, if necessary, and to consider, as necessary,
other postal problems of common interest to the member countries.
The APPU Congress were held as follows:
1st AOPU Congress in Manila,
Philippines in 1965
2nd AOPU Congress in Kyoto, Japan
in 1970
3rd AOPU Congress in Melborne,
Australia in 1975
4th AOPU Congress in Yogyakarta,
Indonesia in 1981
5th AOPU Congress in Bangkok,
Thailand in 1985
6th AOPU Congress in Rotorua, New
Zealand in 1990
7th AOPU Congress in Singapore in
1995
8th AOPU Congress in Tehran, Iran
in 2000
9th AOPU Congress in Seoul, Korea
in 2005
10th AOPU Congress in Auckland,
New Zealand in 2009
Executive Council:- The Executive
Council (EC) comprises all the member=countries of the Union with a quorum of
the majority. To ensure the continuity of the work of the Union in the
intervals between Congresses, the Executive Council meets in principle once
each year. The functions of the Executive Council are:
(a) To perform any duty assigned to
it by a Resolution of the Congress;
(b) To lay down the international
postal service rules which shall provide for details necessary for the
operation of the international postal service between the member-countries;
(c) To maintain contacts with
postal administration of the member-countries of the Union with a view to
improving the postal service;
(d) To prescribe rules for the
administration of the Bureau and to supervise the activities of the Bureau;
(e) To review and approve the
annual budget and accounts of the administrative section prepared by the Bureau
in the intervals between Congresses;
(f) To make useful contacts with
the various organs of the Universal Postal Union, with the Restricted Unions or
with other specialized agencies of the United Nations with special interests in
the area and, if necessary, to appoint representatives to conference of such
organization;
(g) To conclude agreements on
behalf of the Union with the Universal Postal Union and other restricted Unions
and international organizations with regard to such matters as technical
co-operation with the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the members of the
Union. The Council may authorize the Director of the Bureau to execute such
agreements;
(h) To assemble, prior to each
Universal Postal Congress, in order to exchange and harmonize their views; and
(i) To make necessary steps, with
the agreement of the majority of the members of Union, provisionally to carry
out such other administrative acts which are not covered by he Acts of the Union
and cannot await the next Congress for the settlement.
Chairman and Vice Chairman of the
Executive Council;- are elected by the first Executive Council meeting convened
immediately after the holding of the Congress at the same venue. In the normal
course the chairmanship shall devolve by right on the host country of Congress.
Bureau:- The Bureau, formerly the
Central office, serves as a medium of liaison, information, inquiry and
training for the member-countries of the Union. The Bureau is composed of the
administrative section and the training section. The Bureau is composed of a
Director and such other staff as the union may require. The Bureau provides the
secretarial for meetings of the union, jointly with the postal administration
of the country where each meeting is held. The Bureau is under the general
supervision of the Executive Council.
The Bureau provides training
facilities and advisory services in the training section to improve postal
services within Asia and the Pacific. This training section is administered by
a Governing Board, chaired by the head of the host administration of the Bureau
(Thailand). The governing Board meets at least once each year in the country
where the Executive council will hold its meeting. The training section of the
Bureau is known as the Asian Pacific Postal College.
Director of APPU Bureau is
chosen, from among qualified postal officials, by the Executive Council or in
Congress year by Congress. The tenure of office is fixed by the body which
selects the Director.
The Director of APPU Bureau is
its legal representative in all functions performed by the Bureau pursuant to
the Acts of the Union and the decision of Congress of the Union. The Director
represents the Union in the international conferences regarding postal service
where representation of the Union is required.
Asian Pacific Postal College:-
The Asian Pacific Postal College (APPC), formerly the Asian and Oceanic Postal
Training School (AOPTS) and the Asian Pacific Postal Training Centre (APPTC),
was established on 10 September 1970 in Bangkok following the recommendation of
the first Congress of the Asian Pacific Postal Union (then the Asian and
Oceanic Postal Union) held in Manila in 1965.
APPC was established with
assistance from UPU and contribution from UNDP in the form of expert/consultant
services, fellowships and equipment. The Government of Thailand generously
provided the necessary premises for APPC.
APPC represents an outstanding
example of international cooperation in the field of postal training. APPC has
trained more than 5,000 postal managers from various postal administrations in
the Asia-Pacific region and from the African continent.
APPC provides professional
training in relevant areas covering international post, quality of service,
sales and marketing, postal operations, postal planning and modernization,
human resource management, information technology, business management,
financial management etc. APPC provides external training programs in various
countries. They are tailor-made programs designed to suit the specific needs of
requesting administrations.
APPC organizes seminars and
workshops by UPU, related organizations and postal administrations.
On 50th anniversary of Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU), Pakistan Post is issuing a Commemorative Postage Stamp of Rs.8/- denomination on April 1, 2012.
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