Egypt Post participated in the first Arab Postal Leaders Forum, which was hosted by Muscat, Oman from 12 to 14 February 2024, in cooperation with the Universal Postal Union International Bureau (UPU-IB). The forum was attended by heads of postal administrations from 18 Arab countries, as well as Masahiko Metoki, Director General of UPU-IB; Marjan Osvald, Deputy Director General of UPU-IB; and experts from IB in the field of digitization. Sharif Farouk, Chairperson of Egypt Post, said: "The sessions of the forum are of particular importance as they address many important topics related to the future of the postal sector in the Arab region and share the experiences and best practices of Arab postal administrations in digital transformation and innovation in postal services. In addition, the forum discusses the regional and global challenges facing the Arab postal sector and the world postal sector, and how to overcome them, and provide innovative solutions and services to serve citizens in all Arab countries." During the opening session of the forum, titled "The Digital Economy and the Postal Sector", Sharif Farouk, Chairperson of Egypt Post, spoke about how Egypt Post managed to transform its services offering and operation digitally, and how it promotes financial inclusion and digital empowerment for the citizens in Egypt. He also highlighted the investments made by Egypt Post in developing the digital technological infrastructure, supporting the Egyptian government's strategy in promoting e-commerce, e-government services, and implementing financial inclusion. Farouk also highlighted the role of Egypt Post as a key player in digital economy services and providing many government services through the post offices, which became service centers for government and financial services, which promote sustainable socio-economic growth. In addition, he spoke about the latest digital products and services that Egypt Post plans to launch shortly. Farouk further explained that Egypt Post's participation in such forums aims to strengthen cooperation with the Arab postal administrations, through transferring and exchanging expertise in postal business. In addition, it explores opportunities for joint investment. The opening session was also attended by Ali Al-Shidhani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Oman, Bassam Al Sarhan, Chairperson of Board of Commissioners, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission in Jordan, Mutua Muthusi, Director of Development and Cooperation, UPU, and moderated by Siva Somasundram, Director of Policy, Regulation and Markets, UPU. A meeting was scheduled between Farouk and Sheikh Ibrahim bin Sultan Al-Hosni, CEO of Oman Post, to discuss the ways to enhance cooperation between Egypt and Oman within the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the two sides last month to exchange experiences and strengthen cooperation in the field of postal and logistics services, e-commerce, exchange of electronic postal payment services, issuance of joint stamps, and how to implement the terms of this MOU in a way that serves the interests of the citizens of the two countries. On the sidelines of the forum, a meeting was also scheduled to be held between Farouk and Masahiko Metoki, Director General of UPU-IB, and Hashim Al-Haj, Coordinator for Arab Region and Emergencies and Postal Resilience, UPU-IB, to discuss the pillars of the Universal Postal Strategy for the Arab Region 2026-2029 and its integration with the Regional Development Plan for the Arab Region for the same period. Farouk also participated in the roundtable session for heads of Arab postal administrations during the forum to review the most important results agreed upon during the forum and identify the key pillars for implementing digital transformation and diversifying postal services in the Arab region.
