Japan Post privatisation panel to discuss regional separation

A government panel has decided to discuss new business models for Japan’s postal services, including the idea of dividing them by region, in view of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s plan to soon privatize the services.

The liaison council on postal privatization, which consists of officials from the Cabinet Office and the posts ministry and private-sector experts, discussed the goals and merits of bringing the postal services into private hands, government officials said.

The participants agreed they will study the issues further and report the results to the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, a key government panel chaired by Koizumi, in late December, the officials said.

The liaison council is a subgroup of the key government panel and specializes in postal privatization.

Among other things addressed during Tuesday’s meeting, private-sector members of the liaison council asked the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs and Posts and Telecommunications to reveal Japan Post management data at a level equal to private firms. Japan Post is a public corporation that took over the postal services from government hands in April this year.

Koizumi has pledged to privatize the postal services — mail delivery, postal savings and “kampo” life insurance — in April 2007.