📋 Tender Overview
Following is a question by Professor the Hon Priscilla Leung and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Mr Algernon Yau in the Legislative Council today June 17
Question
Hongkong Post HKP has recorded continuous losses in recent years with a loss of 821 million in 20242025 which is the highest loss since the establishment of the Post Office Trading Fund in 1995 while the mail volume handled decreased by an annual average rate of about 7 per cent from 20192020 to 20242025 representing a cumulative drop of 44 per cent On the other hand the popularity of electronic communication has led to a declining demand for traditional postal services posing challenges to postal administrations around the world It has been reported that quite a number of countriescities have promoted the commercialisation or privatisation reform of postal administrations to enhance competitiveness and tap new revenue sources In this connection will the Government inform this Council
1 whether it will study promoting the HKPs further commercialisation or its operation under a marketoriented model including introducing strategic partners expanding crossborder ecommerce logistics and supply chain management services if so of the details if not the reasons for that
2 whether it has studied the use of artificial intelligence big data blockchain digital asset technologies etc to enhance the HKPs services and explored the development of new business models such as postal financial services so as to enhance the HKPs longterm competitiveness and financial sustainability if so of the details if not the reasons for that
3 whether it has studied the experiences of postal administrations in places including Germany Japan and Singapore in promoting commercialisation or privatisation reforms so as to comprehensively assess whether the HKPs current operating model can meet the needs of market development if so of the details if not the reasons for that and
4 whether it has conducted a comprehensive assessment of the financial sustainability of the HKP in the next five to ten years including whether the HKP will still be capable of achieving selffinancing in the face of a continuous decline in the volume of traditional mail handled if so of the details if not the reasons for that
Reply
President
Hongkong Post HKP is required to fulfil its obligation to provide universal postal services namely ordinary and registered mail and parcel services Making profit is not the objective of providing public postal services In the early 1990s recognising that certain services of the HKP such as Speedpost could be provided on a commercial basis the HKP has been operating as a Trading Fund since 1995 to generate profits to crosssubsidise the necessary expenditure of universal postal services This allows for the flexible deployment of resources and the provision of appropriate services to the public and businesses in response to changes in the operating environment Now that the demand for traditional postal services continues to decline given the increasing popularity of electronic communication the HKP in face of operational challenges has been actively striving for transformation in recent years to increase its income through expansion of electronic commerce ecommerce mail business and other businesses with a view to subsidising the necessary expenditure of universal postal services with profitable businesses
In response to the question raised by the Prof Hon Priscilla Leung Meifun the reply is as follows
1 2 The global economic environment has undergone rapid changes in recent years and the escalation of geopolitical situation has impacted the postal and logistics sector giving rise to structural changes in global postal services Furthermore with the influx of commercial logistics operators into the market under the rapid development of the ecommerce industry the competition in the logistic sector has been increasingly fierce Given the multiple impacts of the various factors mentioned above the overall postal business has shrunk In the face of these operational challenges the HKP has all along been leveraging the edges of its delivery network and postal channel to actively expand its crossborder ecommerce logistics business with a view to achieving differential development with private logistics operators and complementing one anothers strengths In this regard the HKP has been strengthening cooperation with online shopping platforms and private logistics operators including
i For local ecommerce mail the HKP offers diversified collection and delivery services including the provision of local service ECGET at affordable price enabling businesses to post ecommerce and other mail items conveniently via online platforms At the same time the HKP has been striving to expand its collection network by cooperating with 540 convenience stores in addition to post offices in various districts 169 selfservice collection facilities ie iPostal Stations and 27 selfservice posting facilities ie iPostal Kiosks providing over 820 collection points in total and
ii For nonlocal ecommerce mail the HKP is optimising its global postal network through collaboration with China Post and other postal administrations At the same time the HKP is leveraging Hong Kongs position as an international logistics hub to provide inbound and outbound crossborder ecommerce mail services as well as special lane services to specific destinations
In terms of technology application the HKP will actively explore how to suitably apply technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data to optimise processes for example by further integrating delivery beats and transport routes and considering the feasibility of providing digital services with a view to enhancing the quality of postal services and improving operational efficiency The HKP is aware that some postal administrations also provide financial and commercia
