HONG KONG 2004 - Communications, the Media and Information Technology

Established in 1841, Hongkong Post enjoys a proud heritage and a long history of serving Hong Kong. The change into a trading fund operation in 1995 marked another major milestone. Today, Hongkong Post is a progressive and dynamic postal organisation with a strong local foothold and wide global reach.

Hongkong Post is committed to providing accessible, reliable and affordable postal services to the people of Hong Kong. As a recognition of its high level of achievement in the pursuit of excellence in total quality management, Hongkong Post was honoured with the Certificate of Excellence in the 2004 HKMA Quality Award organised by the Hong Kong Management Association. It was the first government organisation to win such an award, which is the Hong Kong equivalent of the American Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Hongkong Post was rated highly in the eighth annual independent public perception survey in March, with 97 per cent of the public, 94 per cent of business customers and 98 per cent of philatelists responding that they were very satisfied or satisfied with its services. The survey found that Hongkong Post stood out as one of Hong Kong's top three service organisations for the fifth consecutive year.

For the second year running, Hongkong Post's Speedpost achieved Gold Level certification, the highest level of recognition for outstanding performance among 195 Express Mail Service (EMS) operators. The award is based on the Universal Postal Union Express Mail Service Cooperative's Audit and Measurement Programme, conducted by an independent consultant in areas including delivery performance and timely provision of tracking data.

During the year, Hongkong Post handled 1.27 billion items of mail, delivering more than 3.5 million items daily to more than 2 million families and businesses. This represents a slight increase of 0.5 per cent over 2003, with local mail accounting for 85 per cent of the items processed. Some 11 593 tonnes of letter mail and 1 752 tonnes of parcels were dispatched outside Hong Kong by air, representing a 3 per cent increase over 2003. The Mainland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia were Hongkong Post's major partners for letter mail, while Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia were its major partners for parcels.

As a major refocus exercise, single daily delivery for local mail was introduced in January across the territory without compromising the next-day delivery standard for local mail. This was a key efficiency initiative which reflected changing market demands and global trends, enabling Hongkong Post to deploy its resources more effectively. While achieving resources efficiency, Hongkong Post also recorded a formidable success rate of 99.7 per cent for next-day territory-wide delivery of local letters, beating the 98 per cent target set in the performance pledge, which represents the world's highest delivery standard.

Introduced in January, the Local CourierPost Postage Prepaid Envelope gives customers even greater convenience with a tenfold increase in acceptance points from 133 post offices to additional 900 street posting boxes across the territory.

In May, the Speedpost network was expanded to 120 additional destinations, giving Speedpost more extensive coverage in South America, Eastern Europe and Africa. The resultant worldwide coverage of 216 destinations means that Speedpost provides an international courier service to nearly every corner of the world.

Hong Kong's first Collection and Delivery Management System utilising GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) to facilitate resource allocation and improve overall efficiency for the operation of the courier service was fully implemented in 2004. Three hundred-plus postmen are now equipped with PDAs, thrusting Hongkong Post to the forefront in courier service in its use of state-of-the-art technology.

A highlight of the year was the Hong Kong 2004 Stamp Expo held in January. More than 100 postal administrations, philatelic agents, security printers, stamp and coin dealers, philatelic publishers and stationery suppliers from around the world participated in the Expo. Designed to encourage philately among local and international collectors, the five-day evert attracted over 120 000 visitors. The Expo was conducted under the patronage of the Federation of Inter-Asian Philately, and co-organised by Hongkong Post with the Hong Kong Philatelic Society, the China Philatelic Society and the Tsim Sha Tsui Philatelic Club. The theme of tourism supported the government's initiative to promote tourism in the territory. Six individual stamp sets in the tourism series were released in phases from April 2003 to the Expo.

This was the first time coins and banknotes were featured at a Stamp Expo in Hong Kong. Rare historical exhibits from the China National Postage Stamp Museum, Hong Kong Museum of History, China National Philatelic Corporation and leading philatelists were displayed in the Court of Honour.

Hong Kong stamps are recognised worldwide for their world-beating artistry and innovative design. During the year, 10 sets of special stamps reflecting a variety of cultural, nostalgic and contemporary themes were issued: Year of the Monkey; Hong Kong, China — New Zealand Joint Issue on Rugby Sevens; Children Stamps — My Favourite Toys and Games; Centenary of Hong Kong Trams; The People's Liberation Army Forces, Hong Kong; Sports; Centenary of the Birth of Deng Xiaoping; Hong Kong Currency; Development of the Pearl River Delta Region; and Fungi.

To commemorate the 2004 Olympic Games, Hongkong Post issued a special stamp sheetlet in August. And to celebrate the achievement of the Hong Kong silver medal winners in the Men's Table Tennis Doubles, it issued a special commemorative stamp pane in October.

As Hong Kong's first recognised Certification Authority under the Electronic Transaction Ordinance, Hongkong Post issues digital certificates and helps prime the pump of electronic commerce in line with the Government's Digital 21 Strategy to maintain Hong Kong's position as one of the world's leading digital cities. Hongkong Post took the unprecedented opportunity of the territory-wide smart identity card replacement exercise to kick off a high-profile campaign offering Hong Kong residents the option of embedding an e-Cert in their smart identity card free of charge for the first year. This creates a convenient means for users to conduct secure online activities, helping to build a critical mass of e-Cert users in Hong Kong.

Hongkong Post Logistics Services is a business on the move, gaining more momentum and getting more creative every year. In January, Hongkong Post and China Post teamed up to provide the Hong Kong/Mainland Gift Fulfillment Service, offering users new convenience in sending gifts to over 2 000 cities in the Mainland. Initial products included Lunar New Year gifts such as bouquets, cakes, flower baskets and fruit baskets. This list was expanded in August to include orders for mooncake gift sets for Hong Kong people or companies to send seasonal greetings to their business partners, relatives and friends in the Mainland.

In December, Hongkong Post collaborated with an Internet portal and online shopping platform provider to offer online merchants the payment collection and delivery solutions of Hongkong Post Logistics Services. This service is designed to meet the specific needs of Hong Kong SMEs that require a one-stop solution for operating an Internet Shop.

In the same month, Hongkong Post launched its own ShopThruPost Internet platform, providing a user-friendly online shopping experience for customers to purchase Hongkong Post stamps and PostShop products, and to order a comprehensive selection of other quality merchandise from local and international suppliers.

In January, Hongkong Post ventured into a new service area, teaming up with an information technology services company to provide both paper-to-electronic and electronic trade declaration services. Traders who opt for paper submission can benefit from the convenience and reliability of the extensive retail and collection network of Hongkong Post. Traders can also make use of Hongkong Post's e-Cert to facilitate the electronic submission of trade declarations to the government.

In November, Hongkong Post expanded the reciprocal postal remittance service from the existing six destinations to include the rest of the world, offering customers a fast and reliable means for sending or receiving money to and from their families and friends worldwide.

With the opening of the Kam Tai Post office in Ma On Shan in February and the Choi Ming Post Office in Tseung Kwan O in December, the post office network increased to 133 post offices, enhancing the services to the public.

Direct Mail has been a popular, effective and efficient marketing tool for marketers to promote their product and services. To enable marketers to boost the efficacy of their marketing campaigns with improved customer targeting, Hongkong Post launched a sophisticated segmentation model in July as a new option for subscribers to the Premium Circular Service for sending direct mail. With this enhancement, marketers can choose the most suited to their customer profile.

In February, Hongkong Post participated in the Government's annual Book Donation and Sale Campaign, transferring over 210 000 donated books from around Hong Kong to the Central Library and generating substantial proceeds for local charities.

In fostering a caring culture in the community, Hongkong Post organised 'Love and Care Day' in September, providing an opportunity for its staff and customers to express gratitude to each other for their support. The public were encouraged to send one personal letter up to 50 grams free of postage to a local address at four selected post offices, aiming to encourage the use of physical mail to convey personal caring messages to others.

Hongkong Post believes in the shared responsibility of employers and employees to create and maintain a safe and healthy work environment. A total of 63 offices, a tenfold increase from 2003, received the 'Continual Improvement Safety Programme Recognition of System' Level 2 Certification from the Occupational Safety and Health Council.

Internationally, Hongkong Post participates as a delegate of the People's Republic of China in meetings and activities organised by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU). During the year, it attended the UPU Postal Operations Council meetings and the Council of Administration meetings held in January-February in Berne, Switzerland, the APPU Executive Council meetings held in May in Queenstown, New Zealand, and the 23rd Universal Postal Congress held in September-October in Bucharest, Romania. In addition, Hongkong Post continued to serve on the UPU Express Mail Service Cooperative (EMSC) Board and the Asia Pacific Post Cooperative (APPC) Management Board. It actively participated in regional and international meetings to encourage the pursuit of performance excellence, partnership and product development. The ultimate goal is to offer the people of Hong Kong high quality and value-for-money products in international services.