27th Congress of the Universal Postal Union : MINREX Represents Head of State

The Minister of External Relations (MINREX), Mbella Mbella represented the President of the Republic at the opening ceremony of the 27th Congress of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) holding from August 9 to 27, 2021 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The historic event is the second to be held in African continent since the 10th Congress in Cairo in 1934. The opening ceremony of August 9, 2021 was presided at by the President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Outtara in the presence of UPC Director General, Bishar Hussein and the Chairman of the Chairman of the 27th Universal Postal Congress, Souleymane Diakité Coty. Originally slated to be held in August 2020, the Congress was postponed to now due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 
In his speech, UPU Director General noted that in the last 18 months, the international postal sector has experienced incredible changes, with some governments declaring the Post as a critical infrastructure. He added that many administrations used the Post to deliver essential services including Covid-19 medicine and vaccine. “We have come to Abidjan not only to reflect on the milestones of the Post in the last five years, but also to discuss and define how Posts will assist economic and social development in the future. In developing the Abidjan World Postal Strategy that will be proposed for approval by the Congress, we took into consideration the ever changing global business environment as well as the challenges that face the postal industry and the UPU now and in the future,” he noted. 
UPU Congress approved a proposal that allows members to participate in deliberations and take part in electronic voting (applicable only during the 27th Congress and abrogated thereafter). Thus Ministers of External Relations and other delegations who cannot travel to Abid...