Aramex-backed delivery solution launched in Tonga

Tonga has adopted what3words postal addressing system to improve national infrastructure which will enable Tonga Post to better serve its 36 inhabited islands.

what3words is a global grid of 3m x 3m squares where each square has been pre-allocated a fixed and unique 3 word address.

The Kingdom of Tonga is the first nation in the region, and the fourth in the world, to adopt the three-word address system.

 Thirty-six of Tonga’s 170 islands are inhabited, with a population of approximately 103,000 citizens. With only a few named streets on a handful of islands, delivering mail is a constant struggle for Tonga Post, the nation’s official postal service.

Until recently, home delivery was restricted to express mail in the city of Nuku’alofa, the capital of the Kingdom. Any other mail would be delivered to centralized P O Boxes, with the recipient responsible for collection, resulting in high volumes of undelivered mail, taking up space and incurring extra costs for Tonga Post.

By using what3words, every location in the Kingdom of Tonga now has an instant address, which Tonga Post hopes will help to unlock the region’s economic growth and social development.

According to the company, three-word addresses will ensure packages or deliveries from the extensive Tongan diaspora make it home, and the system also enables companies to generate revenue from handling more inbound international parcels, as well as from e-commerce from Hong Kong, China and Singapore.

“The volume of international mail we have to deal with has increased dramatically in recent years and consumption of e-commerce is rapidly rising across the islands,” said Tonga Post CEO, Siosifa Pomana.

“It’s essential we have the delivery infrastructure that can meet this demand, from customers in cities to those on the smallest islands. what3words’ system has already addressed everywhere in Tonga so we can roll out our service immediately.”

According to what3words, the system is used by individuals, delivery companies, navigation tools, governments, logistics firms, travel guides and NGOs. It is more precise than traditional addresses, simpler than descriptions, and easier to communicate and remember than long strings of GPS coordinates. In addition, it works offline without a data connection, ensuring it can be used everywhere.

The partnership was finalised during an ‘Addressing the Future’ forum held in Nuku’alofa 24–26 January 2017.

The business forum looked at ways to further develop e-commerce across the South Pacific and was attended by postal services from The Cook Islands, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Source: logisticsmagazine.com