Welcome address by the Vice Secretary General Marjan Osvald at the 2IPD Awards

Monday, 8 September 2025 at 17:00

Your Excellencies,
Ministers, Regulators, Operators,
Dear colleagues,
 
It is my profound honour to open the 9th edition of the 2IPD Awards – our community's benchmark indicator for postal progress. At its core lies the Integrated Index for Postal Development – the 2IPD.
 
The 2IPD, published annually by the UPU, is not a matter of opinion – it is grounded in evidence. Drawing from billions of postal big data records and backed by 150 years of UPU's official statistics, it measures how postal systems in 180 countries deliver for people and businesses every day – across four critical dimensions.
 
This universality is what makes the 2IPD the world's most comparable and inclusive postal development framework.
 
The awards we present here today recognize determined, data-driven improvement across every region. They celebrate operators that modernize networks, streamline cross-border flows, and expand services for citizens and MSMEs.
 
They prove something fundamental: when we measure consistently and act collectively, transformation accelerates.
 
This year, as part of our innovation journey, we bring the power of data driven insights directly to you.
 
I invite every delegation to experience the 2IPD measurement in action by visiting the UPU stand during Congress.
 
There you can engage with the first Agentic AI dedicated to postal development. In your own language, examine your country's profile: strengths to leverage, gaps to close, peers to learn from, and reforms that will deliver maximum impact.
 
This tool is a powerful, practical and transparent tool that is ready to shape your strategies.
 
The 2IPD anchors this year's State of the Postal Sector report. It links performance to policy and charts the path forward.
 
The data confronts us with some hard truths. Postal revenues are stalling while economies surge and development gaps widen between those advancing and those falling behind.
 
But at the same time, this data reveals extraordinary opportunities. Operators achieving in two years what once took decades. Post offices becoming engines of digital and financial inclusion.
 
This Congress is our turning point. We have the data. We have the tools. We have the evidence of what works. What we need now is collective commitment to act.
 
Let us seize this moment to shape a future where postal services drive inclusive, sustainable development for all.
 
Thank you.