Electronic postage - Vietnam's approach to the economy of globalization (Part I)

Entering the 21st century, the era of IT - Internet, globalization in all aspects, countries, businesses and individuals all face rapid changes of the surrounding environment, many opportunities and great challenges. How to grasp opportunities, overcome challenges, promote advantages, limit their weaknesses to achieve sustainable growth in a increasingly competitive environment, that is the sentence questions are being asked for all. It is also a big question for the Vietnamese postal industry in the process of national industrialization and modernization.

A funny quote: 'Last century, the postman was most afraid of a dog, and the' mouse ', that was the biggest threat to the postman today .'

Indeed, new science and technology, especially computers and the Internet are dominating many basic communication services, but many postal organizations around the world have really participated in the revolution and transformation. That threat becomes a development tool. Applying science and technology to management and business, instead of being encroached by those technologies in the market, developing a supply chain with the new postal service chain, which is electronic post.

Born in the early 90s of the last century, along with the rapid development of science and technology, over 15 years, electronic postage in some countries, typically the US, Canada, France, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong . have affirmed their position in the market of online retail services, postal logistics and financial services. These postal businesses have grown strongly in national, regional and international areas, facing global delivery corporations with famous brands such as Fedex, DHL, TNT . to adapt to the environment. International school fierce competition.

Vietnam Post is also not outside the flow of wind and great challenges. Some outstanding opportunities such as Vietnam's economy are growing sustainably; The political and social situation is quite stable; international economic integration; Posts are gradually separated from telecommunications and become a business autonomous, independent accounting unit. The challenge is that the postal market has started to open up, free competition follows the roadmap committed to the World Trade Organization - WTO, competitors are postal corporations, transnational delivery companies, Domestic and foreign banks and financial institutions, modern alternative communication technologies were invented and applied quickly. Currently, Vietnam Post still primarily provides basic services in traditional transactions and constant losses. The research and application of electronic postage, towards the modernization of postal services and the enhancement of competitiveness through service quality on the basis of modern technology for Vietnam Post is an urgent issue in the period. current paragraph.

1. Introduction to electronic postage

Electronic postage is electronic business activities applied in postage. A series of new terms came with electronic postage such as E-Post office; Electronic bill payment (E-Paybill); Electronic stamps (E-stamp); Full-service (E-fulfillment); Online purchasing services (E-Procurement) .

Figure 1: Description of electronic post office operation

The activities of e-post include 4 main areas: Customer Relationship Management; Electronic Commerce in a narrow sense; Supply channel management (Supply Chain Management) and Enterprise Resource Planning (Enterprise Resource Planning).

Figure 2. Operation of electronic postage

2. Status of Vietnam postage

Development policy of Vietnam Post after the separation of Post and Telecommunications: The Prime Minister's decision on the approval of Vietnam Postal Development Plan till 2010 emphasizes the role of Post Corporation Vietnam itself is as follows: Since its establishment, Vietnam Post Corporation will receive financial support from the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (formerly the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corporation). This support will gradually decrease in the following years. The support level and time of support will be implemented according to the guidance of the Ministry of Post and Telematics.

Dr. Hoang Tho Thai, Head of the Supervisory Board of the Post and Telecommunications Group discussed with VietNamNet on the capacity and business plan after the separation of postage: Vietnam Post will be allowed to combine supply. public services with commercial services, in order to be able to ensure compensation in 2010. Specifically, the Government allows Vietnam Post to develop financial services such as pay services pension, payment services, collection services, delivery to service providers (collecting life insurance, electricity, telephone, water .) and especially the postal sector participation in the provision of telecommunications services through the forms of reselling services and agents for telecommunications such as: invoice delivery, fee collection, receiving love demand for services, provision of value-added telecommunications services, Internet services .

As a result, many new services will be launched while considering the Vietnam Post's resources are limited.

The scarcity of resources of Vietnam Post: According to modern economics, the resources of an enterprise are very diverse, including tangible elements such as human resources, materials, resources and resources. invisible as knowledge, brand, information, time .

Regarding the human resources of Vietnam Post, according to the general assessment, the quality is not high despite the relatively large number (more than 4,000 employees). If services are added without increasing service channels (eg automatic post offices, direct service provision or e-commerce) while payrolls are difficult to increase, limited wage funds, limited staff qualifications processing (mostly manual labor) . will cause great pressure and intensity of work, difficult to achieve the expected effect.

About material resources, including facilities, equipment, or application technology. Compared to telecommunications, postal technology is still very rudimentary, not much investment, mostly manual exploitation, only a few devices such as electronic scales, computers . in transactions and selective systems automatic postal items at two focal centers. Vietnam Post has deployed the application of information technology in locating postal courier (EMS), money transfer service management system . This is also the general status of postal administrations in the countries. develope.

Many years of losses and operations, thanks to the support mainly from telecommunications, Vietnam Post's financial resources are the most difficult issue to be considered and considered in the next development period. If not, the postage will lag behind in many ways, including people, technology and service products that contain less knowledge, which will be difficult to compete.

Besides, the time in committing to implementing the roadmap of globalization and separation of telecommunications is no longer much for Vietnam Post, while postal services in countries and delivery, logistics and financial groups in the region and in the world, it has developed rapidly and increasingly improved. Government protection policy for postal services can only exist when the Government itself has strong financial capacity. Vietnam is a developing economy and the protection of public postal services is very difficult. Postage must find its own right direction according to the general development trend of the world and proceed according to the set roadmap to be able to overcome the current difficult period. Lessons from telecommunications show that only access to new technologies can develop and break through. Thus, the application of e-commerce is one of the right directions, this has been verified by many lessons from postal enterprises of countries around the world.

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