Plans are advanced to draft a joint venture and shareholders agreement between Ghana Post Company Limited and Fast Forward Company Limited, to establish an International Mail Processing Centre and Hub and Spokes Transport System for the West Africa sub-region at the Kotoka International airport.

The joint venture would represent a major step on the part of Africa to play her role in the fast tracked postal world.

Mr Felix K. Owusu-Adjapong, Minister of Transport and Communications, announced this in a speech read for him at the opening of the first Union Network International Postal and Allied Services conference (UNI-Africa) in Accra.

Ghana is the first African country to host the conference since the amalgamation last year.

Eleven countries are participating in the two-day conference on the theme: "African Postal in National Development, Prospects and Challenges."

The Minister stressed the need for African postal administrations to change their operational and financial strategies to meet the new challenges facing the sector.

"The environment in which postal services operate has changed dramatically over the past few years. Just as economic and political changes have altered the world map, so have new developments in the global communications market modified the way postal business is conducted," he said.

Mr Owusu-Adjapong said other means of communication are growing at a much faster pace than physical mail. It is expected that the market share of physical mail would drop due to diversion to electronic media and growing competition from other communication service providers.

"Changes in the postal industry are beginning to occur more rapidly than ever before. These are forces at work that will impact significantly, even dramatically, on our lives, our work, how we communicate, how we learn and how we do business."

The minister called for the active involvement of the various postal unions in Africa for accelerated development and enhancement of postal services.

Mr Fackson Shamenda, UNI-Africa Regional Secretary, expressed delight that Ghana is back to her normal position in Africa after going through bad times.

He said although other forms of communication may evolve, the traditional form of communication can never be changed and appealed to workers, customers and governments to work together to achieve the goals of the sector.

Mr Anthony Ekow Dadzie, General Secretary of the Communications Workers Union (CWU), said the conference seeks to examine the changes globalisation and technological advancement have brought.

It would also examine the effect of these changes on the individual national postal services and the impact on the society they operate in.

Mr Dadzie said liberalisation of postal services has introduced various courier services alongside those offered by Ghana Post.

"The effect of public participation in the unreserved areas has enhanced the commercial orientation of postal services."

He appealed to the government to put in place regulatory measures and mechanisms for improved services, efficiency, safety, security and improved customer care and satisfaction.

Mr Kwesi Adu-Amankwah, Secretary General of the TUC, in a speech read for him, said the negative manifestations and effects of globalisation on workers are virtually the same but with varying degrees of intensity depending on where one is located on the globe.

He said this new development is forcing major changes in society and the world of work, posing enormous challenges to workers and the trade unions both in the developed and developing countries.

The Secretary-General called on governments to be circumspect not to bend to the demands by the neo-liberal theorists to divert from their roles of providing back-up support, development of infrastructure and encouragement for those organisations engaged in vital services in their countries.

Mr Adu.Amankwah said acceding to such demands would only worsen the "already sorry state of our countries as they have proved counter productive to our developmental efforts."

Mr. Francis Adu-Boateng, Deputy Managing Director of Ghana Post, said the company is experiencing rapid transformation as a result of deregulation and liberalisation of the post market.

He called on the unions to appreciate and understand the logic of the situation and to educate and train workers to adjust their thinking and activities to the new demands.