Japanese posts minister gets tips from Deutsche Post

Japanese posts minister Taro Aso on Monday held talks with a Deutsche Post AG board member in Germany to learn more about the German postal system before compiling the government’s draft this fall for privatising Japan Post in 2007, Japanese government officials said.

Aso, minister of public management, home affairs, posts and telecommunications, discussed the advantages of privatizing postal services with Deutsche Post board member for mail delivery, Hans-Dieter Petram, the officials said.

Deutsche Post, launched in 1990 to take over the mail sector run by the German government, is regarded as a model for the Japanese government’s plan to privatize its postal services.

Petram said privatization helped improve services while strengthening the management base, and pointed to the importance of providing mail delivery services and postal savings together as a unified business, according to the officials.

Prior to the meeting with Petram, Aso visited a post office under the direct management of Deutsche Post and a commissioned post office built in a supermarket in western Bonn, the officials said.

Japan Post was created in April 2003 as a public corporation, taking over the work of the governmental Postal Services Agency, which consists of mail delivery, postal savings and “kampo” life insurance.