Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed on Saturday inaugurated the Pakistan Post Mobile Application during a ceremony held at ECO Postal Staff College in Islamabad.

The mobile application will provide services like complaint handling, track and trace, e-commerce, delivery, parcel collect, complaints, tariff, post office locations, postcodes and all relevant information about postal services.

Highlighting accessibility of Pakistan Post with its staff strength, footprints and over a century old legacy and credibility, the federal minister said, “Our postmen visit almost every household of the country, including areas beyond anyone's reach.”

Saeed announced that a pilot project for microfinance loan disbursement will be launched through Pakistan Post. The department also intends to enter the e-commerce business, he added.

“Pakistan Post has the capacity and commitment to deliver for online vendors for their cash on delivery products with proof of delivery and prompt reconciliation of their payments. Many international web portal operators have shown their interest to enter into the Pakistani market with Pakistan Post as their delivery partner,” Saeed said.

The minister said Pakistan Post was also targeting the parcel export market worth $4 billion, which was currently catered to by the local and international private couriers at exorbitant rates.

The department has made necessary arrangements to target the market with a commitment to deliver internationally in 72 hours and the project would be formally inaugurated by January 15, Saeed added.

Pakistan Post, he said, was also entering into the country's logistics market, which at present was worth $34.2 billion and was growing at a rate of more than 18% per annum.

He said Pakistan Post was expecting up to $2.5 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on public-private partnership model for its capacity building in the logistics sector.