India Takes Over Leadership of the Asian Pacific Postal Union

India has taken over the leadership of the Asia Pacific Postal Union (APPU) in January 2023. Dr Vinaya Prakash Singh will take over the charge of Secretary General of the Union for a tenure of 4 years. This is the result of the elections during the 13th APPU Congress held in August-September 2022.

Buy Prime Test Series for all Banking, SSC, Insurance & other exams

What is Asian Pacific Postal Union:

There are 32 members in this international organisation from the Asia-Pacific. It is a specific department inside the UN. The sole Restricted Union of the Universal Postal in the area is this one. The Asia Pacific Postal Union’s headquarters are in Bangkok, Thailand.

• It was formed by International treaty through an Asian-Pacific Postal Convention signed in Yogyakarta on 27 March 1981.
• The organisation has origins dating back to 1961.

Secretary general leads the activities of the Union and is also the director of the Asian Pacific Postal College (APPC) which is the largest inter-governmental postal training institute in the region.

Asian Pacific Postal Union(APPU)’s Goals:

The goal of APPU is to extend, facilitate and improve postal relations between member countries and to promote cooperation in the field of postal services. As the regional center for various UPU projects, APPU also takes the lead in ensuring that all technical and operational projects of the UPU are fulfilled in the region so that the region is integrated into the global postal network in the best possible way.

Significance of India’s chair:

• The Asia Pacific region accounts for around one-third of the world’s postal workforce and about half of the world’s mail volume.
• India seeks to improve the regional coordination with postal players in the Asia Pacific region to improve the growth of the business through the postal network, to ensure the sustainability of the Union.
• This is the first time an Indian is leading an international organization in the postal sector.