ENG-2005 — Page 440

382 Communications, the Media and Information Technology

Hongkong Post's Speedpost achieved, for the third year in a row, the highest Gold Level Certification in the Universal Postal Union Express Mail Service Cooperative's Audit and Measurement Programme. The programme recognises outstanding performance in terms of delivery, tracking and other criteria.

Hongkong Post underlined its commitment to service excellence by working with Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence (HKACE) to inaugurate Hong Kong's first Customer Service Charter in January. In recognition of its high level of achievement in the pursuit of service excellence, Hongkong Post received four Customer Service Excellence Awards in 2005 from HKACE, including the grand champion award in the team award category. It also won eight awards in the 2005 Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme organised by Civil Service Bureau. In the 2005 Hong Kong Award for Industries, Hongkong Post received the Productivity and Quality Award.

Mail Volumes

Hongkong Post handled some 1.28 billion items of mail, or 3.5 million items daily, serving 2.5 million residential and business addresses. This represents a slight increase of 0.05 per cent over 2004, with local mail accounting for around 85 per cent of the items processed. Some 28 939 tonnes of international mail, including Speedpost and parcels, were processed, representing a 4.7 per cent increase over 2004.

Enhancing Mail Processing and Distribution

Hongkong Post recorded a high success rate of 99.7 per cent for next-day territory-wide delivery of local letters, beating the 98 per cent target set in the performance pledge, which represents the world's highest delivery standard.

To enhance customer service, an e-Request function was introduced in December allowing customers to make online requests for re-delivery of Local CourierPost (LCP) items, and select a post office for delivery over the counter of items including registered and recorded-delivery items, parcels and LCP items.

Speedpost and Local CourierPost Service

In July, Hongkong Post joined Australia Post, China Post, Japan Post, Korea Post and the United States Postal Service to align their networks and resources to deliver a new level of Speedpost service in Asia Pacific Rim markets. The linking of these networks provides their customers with a superior date-certain Speedpost delivery service. Customers can also track shipments online, all the way from posting to delivery.

To promote its LCP service in festive seasons, Hongkong Post introduced a series of charming gifts in February and a 'Valentine Local Courier Post' prepaid envelope for delivery on Valentine's Day.

Promoting Philately

Hong Kong stamps are recognised worldwide for their artistry and innovative design. During the year, 10 sets of special stamps reflecting a variety of cultural,