Senior Vice President, International Affairs, Japan Post
Masahiko Metoki has enjoyed an extensive career in the public service, particularly in the postal sector.
He first joined Japan’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in 1983. Mr. Metoki later took on the role of Postmaster at the Nihonmatsu Post Office in Fukushima Prefecture, eventually moving back to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications’ Postal Savings Bureau as its Director of the International Service Office.
In 2003, he made his way back to Japan Post, where he continued his work in the postal savings business until he was called upon to join the organization’s privatization efforts as Director of the Office for the Promotion of Privatization of Postal Services in the Cabinet Secretariat. Since the Post’s privatization, Mr. Metoki has held executive roles related to the Post’s initial stock offering, governance and international postal affairs.
In addition to his experience with the Post, Mr. Metoki has worked with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Japan in Thailand.
Mr. Metoki is a familiar face at the UPU, having represented Japan as Chair of the Postal Operations Council (POC) since 2012. He chaired Committee 5 and the Postal Financial Services Group of the POC in 1999. He emphasized that the UPU, as a UN organization, must support postal financial services in a comprehensive manner.
He has also chaired the 22nd Congress committee for postal financial services and the Postal Operations Council’s Postal Financial Services Group. Mr. Metoki also led the first-ever revision of the UPU’s Convention, allowing for equipment containing lithium batteries to be sent via post.
He holds a Bachelor Degree (BA) in social psychology from the University of Tokyo. In 1995, he was awarded with a decoration "The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand 3rd Class". He is a co-author of the academic paper "Postal Savings for National Development" (2008).
Marjan Osvald is an accomplished executive with 24 years of progressively responsible experience in international postal operations, strategy and sales.
Currently a Senior Adviser to the Executive Management of the Post of Slovenia, responsible for international relations and organizations, Mr. Osvald was promoted to this position following 12 years of service as International Mail Director.
Throughout his career, Mr. Osvald has been deeply involved in international postal business. He is an active member of the PostEurop Management Board for the third consecutive mandate, chairing the Marketing Activities Circle that focuses on philately and new emerging industry trends, such as blockchain and online platforms. He is a long-standing member of various Steering Committees within the International Post Corporation (IPC). He also participated in the establishment of the Postal Union for the Mediterranean (PUMed), and in 2019, was elected Member of the PUMed Board of Directors.
Domestically, Mr. Osvald is the Chairman of the Slovenian National Stamp Advisory Committee and a Lecturer in International Postal Operations at the Vocational College of Postal Services and Telecommunications in Ljubljana. He was also the Chairman of the supervisory board of Feniksšped (Freight and Forwarding Company) in 2011‒2018.
Mr. Osvald has actively participated in the work of the UPU, including UPU Congresses in 1999, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2018. He was a UPU National Quality of Service Coordinator with two awarded projects, one of them for a new concept of postal customs procedures backed up by a software solution that was awarded the 2014 Postal Technology Award for the Digital Innovation of the Year.
Mr. Osvald graduated from the University of Maribor with a B.Sc. degree in economics (foreign trade). He is actively involved in research and innovation projects (part of the EU HORIZON 2020 project team) on cognitive logistics, involving core technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Social Internet of Things and Big Data Analytics, and he aims to open the postal industry towards Logistics 4.0. He is a regular speaker at international conferences and events related to international postal services.