COMMUNICATIONS, THE MEDIA & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
In the light of the high rates of return achieved in past years and the prevailing economic situation, Hongkong Post has frozen the principal postage rates since 1997. There was also a restructuring of the Bulk Airmail postage rates, effective from August 3, 1998, resulting in a weighted average reduction of 17 per cent in the Bulk Airmail rates.
Hongkong Post's premium service, Speedpost, which provides a door-to-door collection and delivery service for customers sending time-sensitive documents, samples or merchandise, continued to play an important part in supporting the business community. With an extensive network covering 82 territories, major exchange partners included the Mainland, Japan, the USA, Taiwan and Australia. Speedpost continued its momentum in 1998. Hongkong Post's marketing strategy is aimed at regaining market share and increasing business. An integrated marketing campaign was launched in October 1997 with the primary objective of emphasising the brand's strengths. The campaign achieved several outstanding awards, such as the 'Advertiser of the Year 97' award by Media Magazine and the ‘Marketing Excellence Award 1998' from the Hong Kong Management Association. An insurance service for Speedpost was introduced in September 1998 to meet customer needs.
The new Air Mail Centre started full operation on July 6, 1998, on the same day as the new airport opened at Chek Lap Kok. It is a $566 million investment, adopting state-of-the-art technology, making the Air Mail Centre one of the most advanced mail handling facilities in the world. The centre is designed to handle the ever- growing air mail traffic into the next millennium, enabling Hongkong Post to maintain a high standard of postal service in the years to come. In August, the Discovery Bay Post Office opened for business, bringing the total number of post offices in Hong Kong to 128.
Hongkong Post continued to review existing postal operations to identify areas of improvement in existing mechanisation systems as well as exploring new areas for further mechanisation and automation. Two additional Culler-Facer-Cancellers were installed to process mail items collected from street posting boxes. The existing Mechanised Letter Sorting System [was enhanced] to improve its effectiveness. Two new postage label-vending machines and an automatic mailing system were tested to study the options of self-service facility for customers.
System development work continued in the year for extending, to other categories of mail, the computer system which was implemented in 1997 for tracking and tracing Speedpost items. In July 1998, the system was successfully extended to the processing of mail bags exchanged with overseas postal administrations, thereby automating Hongkong Post's accounting operation with carriers and overseas postal administrations. The computer system will be further extended by December 1999 to the tracking and tracing of registered mail and parcels handled by Hongkong Post. To improve the service to customers as well as internal efficiency, a computer system was implemented in April 1998 for handling the Local Standing Order Service whereby customers may purchase their choice of philatelic items issued by Hongkong Post. The computer system maintains customer accounts, generates regular statements to customers and produces internal statistical, accounting and management reports in respect of the service.
A new service - Hongkong e-Post was introduced as part of Hongkong Post's initiative to support the government's Helping Business Programme. Hongkong
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