UK, Netherlands to Discuss Japan Post Reform

Postal services privatization minister Heizo Takenaka said Friday he will visit Britain and the Netherlands from Sunday to hold talks with postal officials in the two European countries where postal services have been privatized. “In major European countries, the postal privatization process is going on, spurring competition,” Takenaka told a press conference after a Cabinet meeting. “I will meet with government leaders there and exchange opinions.” In Britain, the minister is scheduled to meet with Nigel Stapleton, chairman of Britain’s Postal Service Commission, known as Postcomm, which is the independent regulator for postal services in the country. In the Netherlands, he will talk with Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Laurens Brinkhorst and Peter Bakker, chief executive officer of TPG N.V., a privatized national postal operator. Japan plans to privatize the state-backed Japan Post in stages beginning in 2007 and complete the process in 2017.