Pakistan Post all set to initiate e-commerce, more financial services

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Post is all set to initiate e-commerce and financial services to cater to the customers requirements apace with the changing communications market.

An official of Pakistan Post told APP, that the revenue of Pakistan Post is regularly on increase which is a proof that postal business is not on decline.

He said that Pakistan Post has taken number of initiatives during 2018, besides performing its core business of delivery of mail and remittance of money.

He said that an action plan for the implementation of the agenda had also been finalised and during current year major reforms would be introduced in the department.

He said that Pakistan Post were endeavoring to establish public-private partnership for the upgradation agenda, adding that the post office of G-8 Markaz had been set up as a model post office and soon other post offices would be modernized on similar lines.

He said that Postal reform-agenda envisaging re-branding of all post offices, Pakistan Post logistic companies initiatives and mobile money solution.

He said that Pakistan Post has the capacity and commitment to deliver for online vendors for their cash on delivery products with proof of delivery and prompt reconciliation of their payments.

Pakistan Post was also targeting the parcel export market which was catered to by local and international private couriers at very high rates.

In a recent statement, Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed said that Pakistan Post was entering into the country's logistic market, which at present was worth $34.2 billion and was growing at a rate of more than 18% per annum. He said the Pakistan Post was expecting up to $2.5 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on public private partnership model for its capacity building in the logistic sector.

The revenue share of Pakistan Post in that endeavour was expected to Rs100 billion per annum, whereas its current loss was Rs11 billion.

The minister said he also had a vision of targeting the domestic money transfer market which was primarily the legacy of Pakistan Post as money order delivery, but ironically was captured by private entrepreneurs.

Pakistan Post is providing postal services in every nook and corner of the country through a network of around 13,000 post offices. Pakistan Post is providing delivery services to about 20 million households and businesses as community service without any cost considerations.

In addition to its traditional role, the Pakistan Post also performs agency functions on behalf of Federal and Provincial governments, which inter-alias include Savings Bank, Postal Life Insurance, Collection of Taxes, Collection of Electricity, Water, Sui Gas and Telephone bills.

Pakistan Post is also providing a universal postal service network in harmony with the Universal Postal Union (UPU) strategy to ensure secure and timely delivery of mail, money and material at affordable cost through utilization of people, process and technology and innovative product offerings.