Tag: Asia

Japanese government gives final approval to postal privatization plan

Posted by | Sep 10, 2007 | |

The government gave green light Monday to a blueprint submitted earlier this year by Japan Post Corp. for privatizing the nation’s postal services.

It was the government’s final endorsement of the 10-year privatization process beginning on Oct. 1, when postal services will be split into four stock firms — savings, insurance, mail and over-the-counter services — under Japan Post, which will turn into their holding company.

The blueprint, submitted to the government in late April, includes the list of assets and employees Japan Post will take over from the public postal corporation that currently runs postal operations and some new enterprises planned for privatized entities.

Among such new business plans is letting the postal savings bank, which is one of the four planned entities, act as a sales agent for regional banks for their housing-loan products.

But the bank and life insurance industries voiced concerns the same day about the postal financial institutions expanding operations, saying they could threaten them.

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DHL increases capacity for Hong Kong-Beijing service

Posted by | Sep 6, 2007 | |

DHL announced that it has enhanced its overnight service between Hong Kong and Beijing by increasing its dedicated flight frequency to meet the growing demand for cargo capacity that is fueled by heavy trade between Hong Kong and mainland China.

The company said in a statement that shippers using this ten-times per week dedicated service will have more options for their Hong Kong-Beijing shipment delivery schedule with new weekend flights that are part of this rollout. This will also bring shippers a 25 percent uplift capacity, according to DHL.

And with this new service offering, DHL will use a Boeing B727-200F aircraft operated by Air Hong Kong, which is a 60/40 joint venture between Cathay Pacific and DHL. The company added that shippers will see a 58 percent increase in payload capacity, because the new freighter has a capacity to hold 24 tons per sector.

DHL also explained that this service will be a boon for shippers, because trade between Hong Kong and mainland China has seen double-digit growth in recent years, due in large part to strong Chinese exports. It also cited data from China’s Ministry of Commerce, reporting that 2006 two-way trade figures spiked 21.6 percent to USD 166.2 billion (US). And in the first half of 2007, trade volume has seen a 23.5 percent increase.

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India Post: Finance Ministry rejects postal deposit rate hike move

Posted by | Sep 6, 2007 | |

The primary reason behind the finance ministry’s rejection is that an increase in interest rates would result in a proportional increase in the on-lending rate to states.

In a move that will disappoint millions of Indians who have small savings deposits in post offices, the finance ministry has rejected the demand by the postal department to increase the interest rates on deposits and small savings schemes.

At present, those who utilize the small savings schemes of the postal department get an interest of 9.5 pct; the rate has been constant for the past 25 years.

The primary reason behind the finance ministry’s rejection is that an increase in interest rates would result in a proportional increase in the on-lending rate to states. Additionally, all states have indicated to the ministry that they didn’t want an increase in their cost of borrowing from the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF).

The finance ministry, in its response to the postal department, said, “Interest rates of small savings schemes are benchmarked to the average yields on g-g-secs of comparable maturity in the secondary market as recommended by the expert committee on administrated interest rates under the chairmanship of the deputy governor of RBI, and reviewed from time to time. At present, there is no proposal under consideration of the government to increase the interest rates on small savings schemes.”

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New Zealand posties win back pay after strikes

Posted by | Sep 6, 2007 | |

Postal workers in New Zealand have been awarded back pay for a period of industrial action in which posties took undelivered mail and put it back in post boxes.

The workers undertook the “secret strike” in July last year as part of a row over an employment agreement, the New Zealand Herald reported.

During the strike the workers went to delivery branches and helped sort the mail in the morning, before taking some of it and re-posting it, preventing it from reaching its destination.

As soon as New Zealand Post worked out what was going on, managers issued suspension notices, stopping the workers from getting paid from the time they began the action.

But the country’s Employment Relations Authority (ERA) on Wednesday ruled that the suspension notices could not be backdated and the workers had to be paid for the time they undertook the action until the notices were issued.

NZ Post said it was not immediately aware the industrial action was occurring, so should have been able to issue the suspension notices from the time it began.

But a member of the ERA said that argument wrongly relied on the notion that an employer was entitled to a notice of intended strike action.

Postal Workers Association organiser Mike Treen said the company was found to have breached the Employment Relations Act.

Treen said the action was limited to not delivering some non-essential mail.

Associate Professor Sean Cooney from the University of Melbourne’s Law School said Australian workers found to have been undertaking illegal activities during strike action would face stiff penalties.

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