New Delhi: The country's vast postal network can use new technologies for providing microfinance services, set up e-knowledge centres and extend banking facilities in rural areas, Communications Minister A Raja said today.

Speaking at the Executive Council Meeting of Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU), Raja said the transformation process in postal services was necessary to enable them to respond to change in the new environment of globalisation.

He emphasised on the need for managers to learn, search and scan environment to read changes and quickly develop strategies to adapt the post to the changed situation. "The postal workforce will need to become skilled and well informed. Human resource development will become the key to the success of post and managers will need to innovate, encourage participation and lead change," he said.

Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Shakeel Ahmad said the postal network in Asia Pacific region comprises 342,000 permanent post offices. This accounts for 51 per cent of the total number of post offices worldwide, manned by 17.15 lakh employees. The anomaly in the percentage of employees to the number of Post Offices needed to be changed, he added.

India Post is hosting the 30th Asian Pacific Postal Union, Executive Council (APPU-EC) Meeting from November 27 to December 1, 2007 here with an aim to exchange views and discuss matters of mutual interest so as to strengthen co-operation amongst postal administrations and postal service providers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Source : PTI