Deputy Postmaster General elected Vice-Chair of Global EMS Board

(CMR) 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 comprises 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

“Being elected as Vice-Chair of this global organization 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,” Postmaster General Sheena Glasgow said.

“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,” she added.

Responding to her latest accomplishment, Ms. Martinez-Ebanks said, “I am honored 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 specialized 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, allowing 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 the EMS business as global markets recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.