Celebrating SPS: 20 years of excellence

SPS Cooperative members came together in March in Berne for a very special celebration of 20 years since the founding of the SPS Cooperative.

Thanks to efforts from members, volume growth of the SPS network has increased by more than 150%, proof that today SPS is commercially and strategically important for postal operators and their customers. The events in Berne were also a chance to look to the future. Key to the SPS Cooperative’s success has been its innovation so discussions also looked to the vision of the service over the next 20 years.

The importance of SPS was underlined by members that came to SPS headquarters in Berne to celebrate the achievements of the SPS Cooperative, including presentations from chief executives from Brazil Post, Cayman Islands Post, and China Post.

SPS awards recognise and reward outstanding SPS service and at a special ceremony successful postal operators received SPS performance awards and SPS customer care awards from the UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein and SPS Cooperative Board Chair Patrick Richon.

Members at the General Assembly were also first to view a new video celebrating the achievements of the SPS Cooperative (below).

Mr. Hussein opened a special reception with a speech on the achievements of the SPS Cooperative. He said, “SPS Cooperative members generated SPS export growth of over 20% during the Doha business cycle and during the first two years of the Istanbul business cycle SPS export volume is already trending 30% higher this cycle, compared with the first two years of the previous cycle.” Mr. Hussein added that the UPU will wholeheartedly support the SPS Cooperative to ensure that the growth over the next 20 years is as exciting as the previous two decades.

After the opening speeches, Mr. Hussein handed awards to the winners of the SPS photo contest, ‘SPS connecting the world’. First place went to Vanuatu, followed by joint second place for Georgia and Latvia. Third place went to Viet Nam.

The UPU Deputy Director General Pascal Clivaz and Chairman of the SPS Cooperative Board, Patrick Richon also unveiled a commemorative stamp celebrating the SPS Cooperative’s 20th anniversary. The commemorative stamp will be issued this year on 10 September, the exact date of the founding of the SPS Cooperative. To date, 21 countries have agreed to issue the stamp with others likely to follow later.

This high-profile event celebrated the achievements of members but the real proof of the success has been the value created for global customers over the lifetime of the SPS Cooperative, collectively generating more than US$2.4 billion in annual business for its members and growing strong.