In a world where technology, e-commerce, and digital communications are making distances shorter day by day, some may think that the importance of postal services has declined; but the reality is the opposite. Postal services are not merely a means of delivering letters, cards, and documents; rather, they are an important part of today’s economic system in the transportation of goods, e-commerce, business relations, and connecting people. Countries that have adapted their postal systems to new technologies and economic needs have transformed postal services from ordinary service institutions into an important means of economic growth.
In many countries around the world, postal services have now gone far beyond traditional “letter delivery.” The scope of postal institutions’ activities has expanded to parcels, domestic and international shipments, express delivery, logistics services, e-commerce, digital tracking, warehousing, and online services. In particular, with the expansion of e-commerce, the role of postal services has become even more important; because every product a person purchases online must ultimately reach the customer from the seller’s door through an organized logistics and delivery system.
This transformation shows that the postal service is not a competitor to the digital age, but rather an important pillar of the digital economy. The internet creates commerce, but postal and logistics networks deliver it to the customer. Therefore, a strong postal system in a country can expand markets for small and large businesses, increase opportunities for selling domestic products, and even strengthen economic activity in areas that are far from major commercial centers.
Postal services can contribute to a country’s economic growth in several ways. First, they reduce the cost and time of transporting goods. Second, they provide businesses with access to domestic and international markets. Third, they create the necessary foundation for the growth of e-commerce. Fourth, they contribute to the creation of thousands of direct and indirect employment opportunities. Fifth, they provide a reliable service for the delivery of documents and official correspondence between the government and the people. Beyond this, a standardized postal network can also create opportunities for the expansion of financial services, insurance, payments, and other public and commercial services.
In fact, the development of the postal network is closely linked to the development of a country’s economic infrastructure. Just as roads, airports, ports, and telecommunications are important for economic activity, postal and logistics services also constitute an important part of the circulation of the economy. If a producer cannot deliver a product to the market at an appropriate time and reasonable cost, simply increasing production is not enough to achieve economic growth.
For Afghanistan, the importance of postal services is greater than ever. Afghanistan has a vast geographical structure, areas far from central markets, a need to expand trade, and serious challenges in marketing domestic products. In such a situation, a broad, organized, and modern postal network can play an important role in expanding the country’s economic activities.
In this regard, the recent activities of Afghan Post are noteworthy. An Afghan delegation led by Rahmatullah Maki, the Chief Executive Officer of Afghan Post, held separate meetings on the sidelines of the 14th Congress of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union with the Union’s Director General, Vinaya Prakash Singh, and a number of other officials. According to a statement from the General Directorate of State-Owned Corporations, the meetings discussed the development of postal services, strengthening cooperation, and sharing experiences, and officials of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union assured the Afghan delegation of comprehensive cooperation in further developing and sustaining postal services.
These meetings should not remain limited to ceremonial relations; rather, Afghanistan should make practical use of such international and regional relations. The experiences of other countries should be studied, compared with Afghanistan’s needs, and gradually implemented. In particular, there is much to learn from the more developed countries of the region in the areas of parcel management, international delivery, digital tracking, e-commerce, logistics, standards, and customer services.
Afghanistan should develop a clear and long-term plan to modernize its postal system. Post offices should not only be places for delivering letters, but should take the form of modern logistics and service centers. Standardized systems should be established for parcels, every package should be trackable through a digital code, and customers should be able to obtain information about the location of their goods at any time.
Afghanistan’s postal network should establish close links with e-commerce. If Afghan traders and producers can sell their products online and Afghan Post can deliver them safely, quickly, and at a reasonable cost to customers inside and outside the country, this will open a new market for small businesses. Handicrafts, dried fruits, saffron, carpets, clothing, and other domestic products can reach markets beyond the country’s borders through this channel.
The quality, speed, and reliability of postal services should be improved. In the modern economy, customers do not want only an affordable service; they also want speed, security, the ability to track their goods, and a reliable mechanism in case of damage or loss. If these standards are established, people and businesses will be more encouraged to use postal services.
Afghanistan should make maximum use of the capacities of international and regional postal networks. The meetings of the Afghan delegation with officials of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union can be considered an important opportunity in this regard. Afghanistan can make practical use of such cooperation in the areas of technical assistance, training programs, experience sharing, and raising postal standards.
Afghanistan today needs economic opportunities that, on the one hand, create employment opportunities for its people and, on the other hand, bring domestic products to markets. Postal services have the potential to achieve both of these objectives. For us, modernizing the postal service is not merely the reform of a service system; it is the creation of a new pathway for trade, production, technology, and economic growth.
The recent meetings of the Afghan delegation with officials of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union should be viewed as the beginning of this pathway. What is needed now is to turn discussions into practical cooperation, agreements, training programs, technical assistance, and tangible improvements in services. If Afghanistan can bring its postal network in line with international standards, postal services will no longer be merely a means of delivering messages; rather, they will become an important route for the circulation of the economy, the expansion of trade, and the journey of Afghanistan’s domestic products toward international markets.
In today’s world, the countries that move forward are those that quickly recognize the need for change. The transformation of postal services is also one of these needs. Afghanistan should take advantage of this opportunity and strengthen Afghan Post as a modern, fast, reliable, and economically important institution; because on the long road to the country’s economic development, some important paths may begin from a place that we have so far known simply as “the post.”
