UPU Director-General reviews preparations for UPU Strategy Conference 2006

Mr. Dayan, who was welcomed by Mr. Abdullah Al Daboos, Director General of Emirates Post, reviewed the preparations during a two-day visit to the UAE from March 10 to 12. Mr. Dayan was accompanied by Mr. Osamu Goto, International Bureau's Asia and Pacific Regional expert.

The UPU Strategy Conference 2006, hosted by Emirates Post, will review the progress of various projects and initiatives of UPU, and chart the direction for posts until the next UPU Congress which will be held in Nairobi in 2008.

During the visit, Mr. Dayan and Mr. Goto held discussions with H. E. Sultan Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister for Government Sector Development and Chairman of Emirates Post, and appreciated the efforts being made by the UAE in hosting the Strategy Conference. The two sides also discussed mutual postal issues, development of postal business among Arab countries, standardization of addressing systems in the region, more efficient money transfer systems and diversification of services at post offices.

Later, the UPU team, accompanied by Mr. Abdullah Al Daboos and senior managers of Emirates Post, toured various facilities and subsidiary companies of Emirates Post.

The team visited Emirates Post's Electronic Document Centre (EDC), the one-stop mail fulfillment facility that offers integrated printing and mailing solutions to corporate clients. They were briefed by Mr. Abdullah Al Ashram, CEO of EDC.

Mr. Dayan and Mr. Goto also toured Emirates Marketing & Promotions (EMP), a new subsidiary which offers state of the art solutions in direct marketing and promotions. They were briefed by Mr. Ahmed Tahlak, CEO of EMP.

They visited Emirates Post's hi-tech Mail Sorting Centre at Ramool, the region's most advanced sorting centre and were briefed by Mr. Abdulla Kalander, Director, Mail Sorting Centre.

The officials were introduced to the operations of Empost, the national courier company, by Mr. Sultan Al Midfa, General Manager of Empost.

The UPU team also toured the facilities at Grand Hyatt Dubai and briefed hotel officials on the standard requirements of such a major conference. Mr. Malik Safa, Director of Sales & Marketing, Conferences and Events, Grand Hyatt Dubai, introduced the team to the hotel's hi-tech conference and banqueting facilities.

Emirates Post arranged a special presentation to highlight a new dedicated website for the Strategy Conference Dubai 2006, which is currently under construction. The website offers assistance and guidelines to delegates as well as projects the UAE's tourist attractions.

Commenting on Mr. Dayan's visit, Mr. Al Daboos said: "We consider it a great honour for the UAE and Emirates Post to be selected as the venue for the UPU Strategy Conference. At the same time, it is a big challenge. Mr. Dayan was pleased with the facilities being put in place by Emirates Post for the event."

Mr. Dayan's visit follows a preliminary visit by Mr. James Gunderson, Director, Office of the Director General, Strategic Planning and Communication, UPU, in June 2005. A separate team of UPU's International Bureau will be visiting the UAE later to fine-tune the arrangements, including requirements like simultaneous translation in 8 languages.

This is the first time that the UPU Strategy Conference is being held outside Switzerland, the headquarters of UPU. The past two conferences of 1997 and 2002 were held at the International Convention Centre, Geneva.