XN000022-1993-03-30 — Page 7

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1993

THE POST OFFICE WILL CONTINUE ΤΟ MONITOR ITS PERFORMANCE AGAINST TARGETS AND PUBLISH RESULTS ANNUALLY.

CUSTOMER REGULAR

SURVEYS WILL ALSO BE PUBLIC OPINION OF THE SERVICES, HE SAID.

ΤΟ CONDUCTED

COLLECT

ON POSTAL CHARGES, MR PAGLIARI SAID THE LAST REVISION APRIL 1991 AND COSTS HAD RISEN SIGNIFICANTLY SINCE THEN.

WAS IN

AN INCREASE IS THEREFORE OVERDUE, HE SAID.

"ALTHOUGH THE POST OFFICE MAKES AN OVERALL PROFIT IT IS NOT

TO DEFEND REALISTIC

ΤΟ OUR TOO HEAVILY ON

PROFITABLE SERVICES, SUBSIDISE THOSE, SUCH AS THE LOCAL MAIL, WHICH MAKE A LOSS," HE SAID.

INCREASING

ON THE POSTAL TRAFFIC, MR PAGLIARI SAID IT HAS BEEN AT AN AVERAGE RATE OF SOME 8% PER ANNUM SINCE THE EARLY 1980S.

ON AVERAGE, THE POST OFFICE IS HANDLING OVER 2.7 MILLION A DAY. HE EXPECTED THIS UPWARD TREND TO CONTINUE IN 1993/94.

THE PREMIUM

ITEMS

то CONTINUED

GROW

SERVICE, SPEEDPOST, HAS ALSO DESPITE FIERCE COMPETITION FROM THE COURIER COMPANIES.

LAST

OF

FOUR

MILLION

THE POST OFFICE HANDLED A TOTAL YEAR, SPEEDPOST ITEMS, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 11 PER CENT OVER 1991.

HE

SAID

-

HONG KONG WAS THE WORLD'S SECOND BIGGEST USER OF AFTER USA AND WITH JAPAN A VERY CLOSE THIRD AND CHINA SPEEDPOST

A

DISTANT FOURTH IN THE GLOBAL LEAGUE.

IN ANTICIPATION OF THE CONTINUED GROWTH IN TRAFFIC AND IN ORDER

THE EXISTING HIGH SERVICE MAINTAIN

STANDARDS WHILE CONTAINING THE POST OFFICE IS PUSHING AHEAD WITH MORE MECHANISATION AND AUTOMATION.

ΤΟ

STAFF

INCREASES,

LAST

ELECTRONIC

STAMP INSTALLED

YEAR, THE POST OFFICE INSTALLED 13 NEW VENDING MACHINES IN 10 MAJOR OFFICES AND ANOTHER 60 WILL BE OVER THE NEXT YEAR, HE SAID.

WERE

15

TO REDUCE COUNTER TRANSACTION TIME AND POSSIBLE HUMAN MISTAKES, 100 ELECTRONIC SCALES

PUT INTO USE AT THE

POST BUSIEST OFFICES. OVER 60 ADDITIONAL SCALES WILL BE BOUGHT IN 1993/94.

NEW

ΤΟ COPE WITH THE INCREASING VOLUME OF MAIL TRAFFIC IN THE TERRITORIES, TWO ADDITIONAL LETTER SORTING MACHINES WILL BE INSTALLED, ONE IN SHA TIN CENTRAL AND ONE IN TUEN MUN CENTRAL POST OFFICE.

1

APART FROM THESE, OTHER MECHANISATION AND COMPUTERISATION PROJECTS ARE BEING STUDIED, HE SAID.

TWO NEW

IN THE COMING YEAR, THE POST OFFICE PLANS TO SET UP POST OFFICES, ONE IN MA ON SHAN AND THE OTHER IN TSEUNG KWAN 0.

SALE

1991 ΤΟ

OF $89

PAGLIARI ALSO SAID THE REVENUE GENERATED FROM THE MR ALL. PHILATELIC PRODUCTS INCREASED FROM $55 MILLION IN MILLION LAST YEAR, AN INCREASE OF 62%.

/"I HAVE