Technology Minister Lauds Service of Jamaica Post

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Hon. Daryl Vaz, says the postal service continues to facilitate several areas of life for Jamaicans doing transactions across the globe.

Delivering the keynote address at the Jamaica Post’s 350 Anniversary Stamp launch, at the Post and Telecommunications Department in Kingston today (October 29), the Minister said it is making strides with transhipment of mail across the region and other territories.

“When you examine the data, the postal service sustains the logistics and distribution networks in countries, and so many people depend on the service for life and livelihood,” Minister Vaz said.

He added that the Universal Postal Union (UPU) has posited that more than 1.5 billion people around the world access financial services through the system, making it the second largest stakeholder in “financial inclusion, after the banking sector”.

He said the postal network is “vital” to e-commerce development by ensuring the delivery of millions of parcels each day, and contributes to trade facilitation, particularly for the micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) sector.

Additionally, the Minister noted that the postal service “is an essential entity towards the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals”, as the UPU links the sector to 10 of the Goals, since it encompasses trade enablement and financial transactions, as well as gender inclusion, poverty and inequity reduction, and employment.

“The postal service is more than just letters, but an important socio-economic institution, and as we progress further into the digital age, the ability to transform and innovate will be crucial to the sustenance of the postal service,” the Minister said.

Minister Vaz also urged the entity to place “greater emphasis” on digitising its services, as further modernisation of the agency is “long overdue” to compete in the “ever-changing marketplace”, noting that Jamaica’s postal service has been a “trailblazer and a history maker”.

In 1671, Jamaica became the first British colony to establish a post office, influenced by the booming sugar industry, and to date, Jamaica Post operates from over 200 locations.