According to ICT’s Public Relation report, in this meeting where both parties emphasized on expanding bilateral postal cooperation, Mr. Eng. Mehri highlighted the existing good relationship between two countries and the joint meetings regarding postal cooperation development, announcing Post Company’s preparedness for transferring its successful experiences to Afghanistan in various postal fields and sectors.
He described the activities and services of the Iran Post Co., expressing that: “Since the emergence of Information Technology in the Post sector and its daily growth and expansion, a considerable volume of postal services in Iran are now being digitally provided.”
The Managing Director of Post Co. included that: “Iran Post Co. is prepared to cooperate with Afghanistan in regard to establishment of related e-services such as e-market and e-commerce, electronic mail systems, comprehensive electronic Postal Shipment Track and Trace software system, and other internet base services.”
Mehri referred to the implementation of ‘Geocoded National Address File’ (G-NAF) Comprehensive National Program in Iran, emphasizing that: “Iran Post Co., with its 25 years of experience in developing and modernizing zip-codes has managed to make excellent progresses in this area.”
Stating that the geo-location information of more than 45 million rural and urban centers has already been updated, he included that: “Based on this program, a Geographical Latitude and Longitude is going to be dedicated to each location in the country, and all addresses will become unique and standard, and the utilization of this new system of unique addresses will become obligatory for all bodies and organizations.”
Eng. Mehri referred to the importance of implementing this project for the country’s future, added that: “Following this nation-wide plan, other important and essential technologies, such as Geographical Information System (GIS) and the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities ‘ISIC’, shall also be implemented in Iran.”
In continuation, he also announced the readiness of Iran Post for establishment and implementation of Unified National Addressing System in Afghanistan.
The Managing Director of Iran Post commented about the printing and issuance of joint stamps between Iran and Afghanistan, saying that: “Issuing joint stamps between countries is a profound and enduring cultural act; and we have so far joined Afghanistan in issuing 2 tripartite and quadripartite joint-issue stamps, and it is our hope and wish to issue another joint-issue stamp with Afghanistan in near future.”
During this meeting, Mr. Eng. Mehri also emphasized on other topics, such as holding joint exhibitions for specialized stamp products on various occasions; implementing feasibility studies for establishing and implementing financial post services, providing post training services to Afghanistan, and transit of Afghanistan’s postal shipments destined for other countries through Iran.
Eng. Mehri further elaborated that: “In Iran, Post has a very active presence in all rural areas with the collaboration of the private sector; at this moment, in excess of 10000 rural ICT offices, 2900 post representative offices, and 3200 post transfer routes are fully covering all villages and rural areas.”
He mentioned the existence of an exclusive Intranet network in Iran Post, and included that: “Because of the existence of data centers and various net-based services, increasing the number of current data centers is one of the main infrastructure programs for Iran Post.”
The Iran Post managing director listed various representative and mediated services such as the distribution of National Smart ID Card, checkbooks, automobile and house owners’ document, driving licenses, etc. as other major activities of Iran Post Company.
Mehri highlighted the role and position of post services in advanced countries of the world, wishing for the day when all the daily and routine affairs of Iranian and Afghan people will be taken care of by utilizing the huge potentials and capacities of Post network.
Abdul Razaq Vahidi, the Afghan Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology, also addressed this meeting by underscoring the widespread corruption existing in the execution of state and public affairs as one of the serious dilemmas of countries, and reminded that: “The most principal approach for solving this dilemma, is the presence of an active post service as a well-known and well-defined mediator, acting as the official representative of the government.”
He also highlighted the numerous cultural ties of both countries, welcoming the expansion and development of postal relations between Iran and Afghanistan, and expressed confidence that his country’s post service is going to benefit from the experiences and capabilities of Iran Post Co. in future.
At the conclusion of the meeting, both parties agreed to prepare an agreement based on the discussed topics, to be signed in presence of both ministers.