Asian-Pacific Postal Union:
Vinaya Prakash Singh, a 1988 batch officer of the Indian Postal Service, has been recently reelected as Secretary-General of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU) for a second consecutive four-year term.
- Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU) is an intergovernmental organization of 32 member countries of the Asian-Pacific region.
- Headquarters: Bangkok, Thailand.
- It is the only Restricted Union of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in the region, which is a specialized agency of the United Nations dealing with postal services.
- Goal: To extend, facilitate, and improve postal relations between member countries and to promote cooperation in the field of postal services.
- It decides and pursues the regional stance in response to global postal issues and strategy.
- Since its creation in 1961, the APPU has taken the lead in projects for improving quality of services in express, parcels, e-commerce, logistics, letter post, and financial services.
- It has guided members in developing new services and products.
- As the regional centre for various UPU projects, it also takes the lead in ensuring that all technical and operational projects of the UPU are fulfilled in the region so that the region is integrated into the global postal network in the best possible way.
- The APPU is made up of the three bodies:
- Congress: It is the supreme organ of the Union and meets not later than 2 years after the UPU congress.
- Executive Council: It comprises all members and meets every year to ensure the work of the union.
- APPU Bureau: It serves as a body for liaison, information, inquiry, and training for members.
- The Secretary General leads the activities of the Union and is also the Director of the Asian Pacific Postal College (APPC) based in Bangkok.
- APPC is the largest intergovernmental postal training institute in the region.
