RIYADH, 10 January 2003 — The privatization of the postal services has been running successfully, with some 100 agencies set up by the private sector, according to a senior official in the Ministry of Posts, Telephones and Telegraphs.
Dr. Khaled Al-Otaibi, director general of posts, said the number of inhabitants served by each postal employee increased from 2,200 to 2,244 since the launch of the privatization program. The percentage of delivery mails within 48 hours also went up from 74 to 78 percent.
“We are looking forward to making the maximum use of modern technology, particularly through the Internet, which helps in tracing the mail from receiving to delivery,” Dr. Al-Otaibi said in his preface to the annual statistical report of the directorate general of posts for the year 2001.
He said the postal department handled 939 million local and international mails, besides 1.54 million express mails and over 665,000 parcels.
The total postal coverage reached 6.264 towns and villages across the Kingdom through 461 government-run post offices, 185 branch offices, 72 private post offices, 770 postal agencies and 97 express mail centers.
According to the director general, the privatization scheme has contributed to the growth of the private sector.
He said private post offices earn 15 percent commission from the sale of ordinary and commemorative stamps. Their earnings also include 20 percent commission for franking letters and 100 percent of the charges for subscriber boxes. The business has turned out to be lucrative, since each agency handles at least 1,000 boxes.
He said the overseas mail constitutes 54.5 percent of the total mail service.
The statistics revealed that the volume of mail was declining with the switchover to the e-mail as the means of communication.
