The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has launched the project “Easy Export” in cooperation with the government of Tunisia to facilitate exports from the country, with a pilot site for Easy Export Tunisia and the Easy Export one-stop shop in the city of Kairouan, located 50 km from the east coast.
Easy Export offers Tunisian small businesses, including craftsmen, a channel to export their products and increase the prosperity of their villages and cities. With its widespread geographic reach and three dimensional network of physical, financial and electronic services, the postal sector can help provide greater access to international trade, UPU explained.
“As the UPU Director General, I am proud to tell you that the UPU will work with Tunisia to ensure the continued relevance of the postal network supporting accessible and inclusive services for the world,” UPU Director General Bishar Hussein said yesterday in his keynote speech during the launch of the pilot site and and the inauguration of the one-stop shop.
He described the Easy Export project between UPU and Tunisian ministries dealing with small businesses as a “symbol of collective commitment and recognition of the deep sense of partnership existing among the parties”.
The project is closely connected to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, especially the Sustainable Development Goal 8 on policies supporting job creation and doubling exports from developing countries.
“UPU’s own commitment to help generate creativity and innovation across postal operations, should assist countries to increase inclusion, lift people out of poverty and deliver life-changing opportunities, as anticipated in the 2030 Development Agenda. This is the power of a strong Post,” Hussein added.
UPU’s Easy Export project has its origins in the Brazilian "Exporta Fácil" programme. Between 2002 and 2008, Exporta Fácil made it possible for over 10,000 small businesses in Brazil, which had never previously exported their products, to access international markets.
