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8 Eurogiro News
A meeting to remember
Special report by photographer and journalist Kostas Kallergis who photo-documented the
Eurogiro Community Meeting for the first time
Working for Eurogiro’s annual Community
Meeting was definitely a great experience.
The three-day conference, held in Athens’
south coast suburb of Glyfada, was a celebra-
tion of multicultural co-operation, set in an
idyllic environment by the sea. The guests,
among the leaders of Postal Services from
around the world, came together to discuss
the developments in the sector and seek more
business opportunities.
The mood, a little slow in the early mornings
as always, was boosted after the first coffee
break and and was significantly raised during
the bilateral meetings where representatives
of Eurogiro members from around the globe
came together in an almost spontaneous fash-
ion to examine possibilities for co-operation, as
well as to exchange views on the similarities
and differences in their local markets. Ideas
would fall onto the table, eyes would shine,
human contact would be established and the
traditional, formal email communication would
be substituted by a smile that could transform
a business negotiation into an intimate social
event.
Before joining the conference, I felt as if it
was going to be just another meeting where
successful businessmen and top company
executives discuss topics that are distant from
people’s everyday lives. But in the course
of the conference, I realised that the topics
presented, no matter how technical they could
sometimes be, were touching the daily needs
of millions of people around the world. The
frequent occurrence of “financial inclusion” in
the guests’ presentations unveiled the practical
and human dimension of the conference. Many
of the presentations touched upon this issue
and demonstrated how financial inclusion can
improve the lives of people, especially in the
developing world.
A special mention in relation to the topic of
financial inclusion was a short documentary
presented by Flavia Almeida of the Empresa
Brasileira de Correios e Telegrafos in Brazil. In
that video, one can see how the opening of a
Post Bank branch in a remote town deep inside
the Amazon managed to not only change the
everyday lives of the people for the better, but to
boost the local economy as well. Locals stopped
travelling to the nearest city once every month
in order to receive their pensions, the money
transfer into the town became safer, small credit
was made available and, in the end, there was
more money spent locally. The single opening of
www.kostaskallergis.gr
that branch improved people’s lives so much
that the local citizens would stop the Post Bank
employees in the streets to thank them for their
contribution. Ms Almeida, deeply moved by
this achievement and its results, closed her
presentation with an emotive speech that
touched all participants.
It was the best way to close this three-day
meeting. There were interesting discussions, a
great setting, an emotional climax, and a sense
of contribution to the society that can keep us
going during the rest of the year, until the next
Eurogiro annual Community Meeting.
3
Watch the documentary on the impact
on financial inclusion resulting from the
‘Banco Postal project’ of Brazil Post
Flavia Almeida, Brazil Post, informed,
inspired and moved the audience at the
Eurogiro Community Meeting in May
2012. The ‘Banco Postal project’ to bring
banking services to remote areas of the
country had effectively altered the finan-
cial situation of local residents in, for
instance, Autazes, in the Amazon, where
more funds now remained within the
local economy and risks of theft during
transportation had significantly reduced.
A booming local trade and public service
resulted.
Today there are 6,192 Postal Bank
branches, fully automated and distributed
in 95% of Brazil´s municipalities, and
Brazil Post has indeed become a
government agent for financial inclusion