DUBAI, Dec 31 (NNN-WAM) – Postal services in the UAE spanned over a century, connecting near and far. Marking the occasion, Emirates Post issued a series of commemorative stamps, to celebrate 110 years of postal services in the country.
The first postal agency opened, in the Emirate of Dubai, on Aug 19, 1909. It was initially affiliated to and managed by the Indian Post Office Services, which was formed some 55 years earlier.
Twenty-three years later the first letter was posted from the Dubai Postal Agency, via Al Mahatta runway in Sharjah, where the emirate’s first flight landed, the same year.
In 1942, the agency transformed into a fully integrated post office, providing customers with a range of postal services. The first stamps of the Trucial States in Dubai were issued in 1961, followed by the opening of post offices in the other Emirates in 1963 and 1964.
Following the unification of the Emirates, the General Directorate of Postal Services, under the Ministry of Communications was established in 1972, and the first set of stamps baring the United Arab Emirates were issued in 1973, the same year the country joined the Universal Postal Union.
Commenting on the special issuance, Abdulla Mohammed Al Ashram, Acting CEO of Emirates Post Group, said, “We are proud to issue this commemorative stamp to celebrate 110 years of the launch of postal services in the UAE and the impact it had on the social and economic history of our nation,”
It marks the moment when the nation began opening up to the world and the important role Emirates Post played in advancing its development, he added.
Emirates Post issued 225,000 commemorative stamps along with 1,000 First Day Cover Sheets. The stamps and sheets will be available from today (Dec 31), across all Emirates Post Central Customer Happiness Centres.– NNN-WAM