 Dear friends, as we celebrate World Post Day, I send my best wishes to all UPU member countries and their designated operators, other postal stakeholders and our esteemed customers. In every country, posts enable people and businesses to communicate and exchange goods and services. In 2012, posts delivered some 350 billion letters and more than 6 billion parcels. They also processed millions of financial transactions. Letters still account for almost 50% of the postal revenues in many countries. However, the gradual decline in business mail is forcing postal services to redefine themselves. Posts are now diversifying their services to better meet customer needs. With a booming e-commerce business and rising parcel and logistics services, the international postal network with more than 600,000 outlets globally is a natural choice for delivery of goods ordered online. Posts provide a public service for every citizen and enables large segments of the economy to function. I wish to take this opportunity to urge all governments to support postal reforms in their countries to ensure provision of efficient postal services. For the 5 million postal staff worldwide, I salute your dedication as you work to connect people and businesses everywhere every day. I wish you every success.