Deputy PMG Elected Vice-Chair of Global EMS Board

Deputy Postmaster General Melissa Martinez-Ebanks is currently serving as the Vice-Chair of the Express Mail Service (EMS) Cooperative Board, after being elected to the position at the EMS Annual General Assembly in Berne, Switzerland in May.

Ms. Martinez-Ebanks has been a member of the international EMS Cooperative Board since March 2020, when she became the first person from the Caribbean elected to the governing body in its 23-year history. The Board is composed of nine elected ad personam (on an individual basis) members from around the globe.

The EMS is an international postal Express Mail Service, for documents and merchandise, offered by postal operators of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) connecting 175 countries and territories worldwide.

With 182 designated operators, EMS transports eight million packages every week and boasts the world’s largest international delivery network, according to the EMS website www.ems.post

Postmaster General Sheena Glasgow said, “Being elected as Vice-Chair of this global organisation after just two years’ membership on the board is a fantastic achievement. I’m very proud of how Melissa continues to do a sterling job in representing the Cayman Islands and the Cayman Islands Postal Service in the international postal industry, particularly at the Universal Postal Union levels.  Over the past several years, Melissa has been instrumental in driving the CIPS’ improvement in its mail operations performance and delivery standards. She is truly a positive example of the CIPS operating as part of the Deputy Governor’s World Class Civil Service.”

Responding to her latest accomplishment, Ms. Martinez-Ebanks said, “I am honoured to be chosen to serve as Vice-Chair and to contribute at this level to the development of the global postal industry. To be able to represent the Cayman Islands Postal Service on an international decision-making body is a tremendous opportunity and privilege. I continue to be excited by the challenge and the opportunities it offers my team as we continue our journey to be a world-class postal service. I can’t take sole credit for the successes on this path, as it is all down to teamwork. I am very proud of the hard-working and diligent team that makes up the Cayman Islands Postal Service.”

The EMS Cooperative was set up at the 22nd Congress of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in Beijing, China in September 1999 to promote enhanced support among members. The UPU is a United Nations specialised agency and the postal sector’s primary forum for international cooperation.

The role of the EMS Cooperative is to promote cooperation between its member postal services to provide customers with a high quality, competitive express mail service worldwide.

The EMS Cooperative is structured around three management bodies: the General Assembly, composed of all members of the EMS Cooperative, the EMS Cooperative Board, and  the EMS Unit, which is the executive arm of the Cooperative based at the International Bureau of the UPU.

Attendees at the EMS Cooperative General Assembly in May numbered 167, with participants representing 81 countries. The two-day event was in a hybrid format to allow members to meet face to face and remote participation.

A key topic discussed at the 25th EMS Cooperative General Assembly, held at the UPU headquarters in Switzerland, was the need to grow EMS business as global markets recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.