UPU
CA C 2 2010.1–Doc 8
UNIVERSA L
POSTAL
UNION
COUNCIL OF ADMINISTRATION/POSTAL OPERATIONS COUNCIL
Joint Committee 2 (Development and Cooperation)
Work of the E-commerce Development Project Team
Berne, 5 November 2010 (9.30 to 12.30), Heinrich von Stephan Hall (first floor)
Report by the Project Team Chairman
(Agenda item 8)
1
Subject
References/paragraphs
Report on the results of the third E-commerce Development Project Team §§ 1 to 20
meeting, held in Berne on 14 April 2010.
2
Decision expected
Take note of this report and make any relevant comments.
I.
Introduction
1
The CA C 2 E-commerce Development Project Team (ECDPT) held its third meeting on Wednesday,
14 April in Berne, chaired by Mr Stephen Muriuki from Kenya. The Chairman welcomed over 20 member
countries, along with the restricted unions, to the meeting and encouraged them to continue their efforts
towards reducing the barriers to e-commerce in developing and least developed countries (DCs and LDCs).
II.
Opening of the meeting and adoption of the agenda
(CA C 2 ECDPT 2010.1–Doc 1.Rev 1)
2
The agenda was adopted with the addition of a new case study presentation by the Government of
Kenya under agenda item 4.
III.
Report of the second Project Team meeting
(CA C 2 2009.1–Doc 7.Add 1)
3
The Chairman tabled the report of the previous meeting held in Berne on 3 November 2009. The report
was accepted without comment.
DDM.PSEP
Nes/Pro
25.10.2010
2
IV.
China and international e-commerce activities
(CA C 2 ECDPT 2010.1–Doc 3)
4
The People's Republic of China introduced a report it had prepared in 2009, describing the status of
China's e-commerce industry and presenting an analysis of e-commerce development in certain UPU member countries.
5
The report noted that the level of e-commerce development worldwide varied, particularly in the field of
postal e-commerce. In many cases, industrialized countries had formed a fairly complete postal e-commerce
system; however, developing countries were still quite behind in this area.
6
At present there were two main aspects of postal e-commerce: the active involvement of postal logistics in e-commerce logistics and distribution; and the transplanting by postal enterprises of as many of their
traditional postal services onto the Internet as possible, especially online postage and item tracking. Some
countries' postal services had also introduced their own online shopping services. Both logistics distribution
and online traditional business represented new opportunities for postal services. Postal enterprises could
significantly improve their service quality through computerization. Improved service quality for logistics and
distribution could improve the competitiveness of postal services in e-commerce distribution. And naturally,
postal enterprises were ideally placed to benefit from growing logistics and distribution needs.
7
It was observed that many countries were providing support for the development of e-commerce
enablers, from laws and regulations governing the e-commerce market, to instruments (e.g. policies) promoting related industries and enterprises.
8
The report concluded that, at early stages of the development of e-commerce, the work of a postal
business should focus on:
a
publicizing the e-commerce concept and promoting the e-commerce industry;
b
accelerating infrastructure construction of information networks;
c
encouraging and supporting traditional enterprise and electronic service trade;
d
improving the e-commerce legal system;
e
improving market confidence and traders' credibility;
f
e-commerce security measures;
g
protecting intellectual property rights;
h
developing and improving technology standards; and
i
establishing an independent e-commerce taxation system.
V.
Country case study – Senegal: hybrid mail
9
Senegal presented the experience of Senegal EMS in its implementation of hybrid mail as a service to
support increased volumes of letter mail in Senegal. Key observations were as follows:
a
Partners with expertise should be selected.
b
The project should involve skills transfer from partners to local staff.
c
Maintenance issues:
–
existence of local subcontractors for equipment;
–
maintenance contracts.
d
Projects like this must cover both commercial and technical aspects.
e
Operational challenges include such issues as availability of reliable electricity.
3
10
Based on its experience, Senegal proposed key areas for DCs and LDCs to consider as they moved
into e-commerce-related services:
a
Establish project teams involving all actors of the company (board, branch, staff, etc.).
b
Establish an autonomous structure (dedicated branch, if possible).
c
Study your markets:
–
Determine market size and market share of mail.
–
Survey potential customers to identify their needs.
d
Develop over time – start small and grow as market understanding develops.
VI.
Country case study – Kenya: e-commerce opportunities resulting from fibre optic cables
11
Kenya presented a new government initiative to establish a national broadband network to help in the
growth of e-commerce outside the national capital.
12
The Government of Kenya had undertaken research indicating that Kenyans primarily used the Internet
for knowledge seeking and socialization, whereas the global Internet user tended to use the Internet more for
transactional, marketing and media-related activities. The development of the broadband network in Kenya
was geared towards building the technical infrastructure able to support more transactional and business-oriented uses, in order to stimulate economic growth.
13
Kenya's Ministry of Information and Communications established key actions for enhancing Internet
access:
–
Increase Internet connection in rural areas.
–
Digitize more government services.
–
Regulate costs.
–
Educate people on how to use the Internet and on its benefits.
–
Improve policy-making on Internet usage.
14
Each of these actions had the potential to result in more effective delivery of e-government,
e-commerce, e-learning, e-health, e-procurement and e-banking services. All countries were urged to consider how Kenya's experiences related to local market environments.
15
The National Optical Fibre Backbone Infrastructure initiative in Kenya was designed to enable Kenya to
develop its e-commerce infrastructure to foster economic growth in rural areas as well as major cities.
16
The Chairman commented that both country case studies (Senegal and Kenya) highlighted critical
aspects for developing countries to consider in e-commerce development. These included identifying suitable
funding models, acquiring the necessary technical skills, and recognizing the importance of marketing and
customer awareness to ensure the success of the new lines of business.
VII.
Barriers faced by postal operators in growing revenue from e-commerce in DCs and LDCs –
Survey by the ECDPT
(CA C 2 ECDPT 2010.1–Doc 6)
17
The Project Team discussed the latest draft of the survey on the challenges to e-commerce development in DCs and LDCs. Members were asked to provide their final comments within the following few weeks,
so that the survey could be finalized by June 2010 and distributed by the secretariat to members for completion by the end of the year.
4
VIII. Work programme for 2010
18
The Project Team's programme of activities up to 2011 was finalized and was centred on preparing the
final report to be submitted to Joint CA/POC C 2 in November 2011. The final report was expected to include
survey findings, results from an IB/UPU study on e-commerce, and experiences from country and regional
projects presented to the Project Team.
19
The United States of America encouraged members to talk to their ministries responsible for relations
with the World Bank to promote the benefits of investing in the postal sector, particularly in the areas of payments/remittances, parcels and e-commerce, as these were priority areas of investment in the World Bank
Country Assistance Strategy programme.
IX.
Next meeting
20
The Project Team's next meeting will be held on 4 November 2010 in Berne during the CA session.
Berne, 6 October 2010
Stephen Muriuki
Chairman of the E-commerce Development
Project Team