Walter Trezek

Walter Trezek is an international expert in postal & CEP logistics, e-commerce regulation, and digital transformation, with more than 35 years of international experience bridging public- and private-sector innovation. He currently serves as Chairman of the UPU Consultative Committee (ad personam, high-level figure in the postal sector), having first been appointed to the role in 2016. He represents Austria as Head of Delegation to ISO TC 344; advises the European Commission (DG TAXUD, DG MOVE); is Liaison Officer between CEN and UPU; and is Convenor of CEN/TC 331 Working Group 2 on Digital Postal Services. Since 2003, his consultancy Commerce Logistics Specialists (CLS) has advised and guided designated operators, CEP and logistics operators and wider postal sector players worldwide through regulatory, technical, and operational reforms. He has also held senior positions at Austria Post AG and was a member of the US-based stamps.com IPO team, inventor of the world’s first digital postage mark.

Motivation for Candidacy

Under my chairmanship during the previous two cycles, the UPU Consultative Committee (UPU CC) has achieved the following: Repositioning the UPU CC during the Istanbul cycle as the UPU body designated to represent the wider postal sector players (WPSP); Opening the UPU in close collaboration with leading UPU member countries during the Abidjan Congress; Launching the restructured UPU CC and attracting new WPSP members—we have enjoyed more than 250% growth in UPU CC membership over the last three years; Establishing the foundations for the UPU CC’s consolidated and sustainable financial base, creating a self-funding service infrastructure to facilitate growth, to support UPU CC activities, and to meet the expectations of the new UPU CC membership structure; Establishing a motivated UPU Secretariat within the UPU International Bureau in Bern, consisting of young, dedicated individuals from all over the world, operating in an exceptional international agency environment; Preparing the UPU CC to facilitate and articulate the needs and expectations of the wider postal sector players in close cooperation with the standing Councils (POC and CA), Committees and Working Groups of the Universal Postal Union (UPU); Developing and revising the rules of procedure, and the application and acceptance procedures for wider postal sector players wishing to join the UPU CC; Ensuring that the new UPU CC is visible during UPU sessions in Bern by hosting evening receptions, coffee breaks, and breakfast events; Ensuring that designated operators, regional unions, and member countries all understand and trust that the goal of the UPU CC and its wider postal sector players is to engage and cooperate with UPU members to return volumes to the designated operators — not to compete against them; We have initiated engagement of the wider postal sector players in conferences, CEO Forums, meetings of regional and restricted unions on all continents, so that their solutions and available volumes are represented; Facilitating access to, and interoperability with, the postal supply chain for wider postal sector players who are UPU CC members, allowing them to enjoy beneficial postal customs clearing, freight and transport-related postal solutions certified for hosting on the real-time IT exchange network (POST*NET) of the UPU and its more than 200 designated operators, allowing the designated operators to seamlessly access the services offered by wider postal sector players. Following the Extraordinary Congress in Riyadh 2023, we have ensured that the UPU CC was granted the right to draft and submit its own UPU Congress proposals directly at Congress, starting at the 28th UPU Congress in Dubai. We have amended Article 122 of the UPU General Regulations by submitting a Congress proposal and achieving the necessary two-thirds majority at the Dubai Congress on September 9th. This ensures the expansion of the CC’s mandate to drive projects and partnerships in order to unlock additional revenue streams for designated operators and restore cross-border e-commerce volumes. The UPU CC needs to build on these achievements and continue to move forward. It is well positioned to help the UPU regain its former role as a unifier of networks and solutions — but this time with the involvement of WPSP, to the benefit of citizens worldwide. For this reason, in the last Session before Congress (February 2025 / S7), the UPU CC GA decided that two UPU CC Congress proposals shall be brought forward to the 28th UPU Congress in Dubai: (i) to further enhance the UPU CC representing WPSP, to facilitate projects to the benefit of the UPU members, its DOs and WPSP. The proposal has been adopted by the Dubai Congress; (ii) to enhance the UPU to become an internationally recognized standardization authority, a proposal carried by Oman and supported by Kazakhstan, Seychelles and Qatar. This proposal has been adopted for further study and consideration by the POC and CA during the Dubai cycle. In the next cycle, the UPU CC will need to actively engage in the work of the UPU through its thematic chapters, also with its own initiatives, projects and public-private partnership proposals to support the work of the member countries and DOs. The establishment of an “Interoperability Chapter” will allow WPSP to better adapt their products and services, tariffs, interfaces with freight and transport modes, customs, product security, product safety and sustainability. Digitalization and the increasing use of electronic advanced data (EAD) and related technologies to apply intelligent data-driven solutions (AI and LLM) is at the core of the UPU’s future service offering. This must be a focus for the UPU CC and its members. UPU CC members have much to contribute and share with the postal sector. In the next four years, CC members will be crucial for UPU member countries and their DOs to regain volumes directly from senders anywhere for delivery in their domestic territory, and to supply certified technology to achieve seamless, efficient, and effective harmonized solutions globally. I stand ready to provide the necessary leadership, supported by the UPU CC Secretariat, in close collaboration with the newly elected UPU Executive Team, the UPU CC Management Board, and Thematic Chapter Rapporteurs. Let us work closely together to make the UPU great again. I am proud to have served the UPU CC over the last nine years, during which time we have laid the solid foundation for the years and challenges of the Dubai cycle through to 2029. I look forward to your support for my candidacy as UPU CC Chairperson for the Dubai cycle.