ENG-1994 — Page 422

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COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA

In August, a prototype automatic mailing system, developed and produced by the Hong Kong Productivity Council, was installed at the General Post Office for trial use by the public. The machine can accept both ordinary and registered letters, assess the postage required automatically, print the amount of postage paid onto the envelope and issue a receipt if the item is intended for registration. It accepts all kinds of Hong Kong coins and provides change. A definitive system will be developed by incorporating all necessary refinements identified during the trial period. If the system is proved to be satisfactory and cost-effective, the Post Office will consider its installation at busy post offices to facilitate the posting of letters.

During the year, a number of improvements were made to counter services. These included the extension of the single queuing system to large post offices; putting stamp booklets of the three commonly-used denominations ($1, $1.90 and $2.40) on sale at all 7-Eleven convenience stores, and participating in the senior citizen card scheme to provide priority service to the elderly.

A customer liaison group, consisting of members selected from the general public, was established to assist in the effective monitoring of the Post Office's performance pledges and to provide feedback and views on postal services so that the Post Office can respond better to the needs of its customers. Quarterly meetings were held.

The Hong Kong Post Office co-organised with the Hong Kong Philatelic Society the first _regional stamp exhibition in Hong Kong, HONG KONG '94, in February. Eighty postal administrations and 90 stamp dealers, both local and overseas, participated. The exhibition attracted 220 000 visitors, including 10 000 from overseas.

The Post Office issued six sets of special stamps during the year. These featured the Year of the Dog, the 150th anniversary of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, traditional Chinese festivals, the 1994 Commonwealth Games, educationalist Dr James Legge (1815-1897) and Hong Kong corals.

Hong Kong has a high international reputation for the quality of its postal service. The Hong Kong Post Office has played an active role in the Asia-Pacific Postal Union, the Universal Postal Union and Commonwealth Postal Administrations. In June and July, the Hong Kong Post Office attended the meetings of the Asian-Pacific Postal Training Centre Governing Board and Executive Council of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union. For the first time, Hong Kong was invited by the Universal Postal Union to be a member of one of its working groups, dealing with express mail service. A delegation of senior officers also attended the Universal Postal Union Congress held in Seoul, Korea in August and September. In August, the Hong Kong Post Office hosted the Conference of Common- wealth Postal Administrations, which was attended by officials from 28 Commonwealth postal administrations.