It is precisely 125 years ago - on October 9.th, 1874 - that representatives of twenty-two postal service operators from around the world met in Bern to sign the Treaty that was to bear the city's name. In so doing they founded the General Postal Union, which acquired its present name of Universal Postal Union at a congress in Paris in 1878. The idea underlying its establishment was to further the development of international postal communications, an aim impossible to achieve merely on the basis of the bi-lateral agreements between states which existed at the time. On July 1.st, 1948 the UPU became a specialist agency of the United Nations. At present the Universal Postal Union, based in Bern, has 189 members. Through its various committees it works to promote the development of letter, parcel and express mail and postal financial services, and addresses the quality of services and the overall modernisation of the postal system. The Slovak Republic, represented by its Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications, has been a member of the UPU since March 18.th, 1993, though its membership as a part of the former Czechoslovakia dates back to 1920.