Tag: Asia

Q-Post signs e-voucher vending machine deal

Posted by | Mar 29, 2007 | |

Q-POST signed a contract with a local firm for setting up point of sale (PoS) terminals and vending machines at the premises of its 30 odd branches throughout Qatar.

As per the terms of the contract, the local company, Starlink, will supply PoS terminals and vending machines to the postal corporation for issuing e-vouchers which would eventually replace scratch cards, now issued by Qtel to its customers.

The facility covered under the scheme includes recharging of Qtel’s Hala card, WiFi, Ebhar and Q-Card.

Chairman of the Q-Post Ali Mohamed al-Ali said the move would help Qtel save considerable amount of money incurred for making scratch cards. “The eco-friendly and environment-friendly cards would ensure that the company spent less money to provide telecom cards to its customers.”

The chairman said a number of residents of Qatar used more than one mobile connection these days and for such customers too the new facility offered convenience for recharging their connections.

The new facility would be installed at the main office of the General Post Office and Q-Post branches in the next few days and customers would be able to recharge their connections from those points. The customer only requires to make payment at the counters and in no time, e-vouchers, with secret number, would be issued, the chairman said.

Later, explaining the details of the vending machines, Starlink CEO Alan Sinfield said it would be installed near post boxes at each post office as the machine should be accessible to customers throughout the day.

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Land of the Rising Hubs

Posted by | Mar 28, 2007 | |

Changi Airports International still runs Singapore”s international airport, but these days it is pushing aggressively into other Asian markets. The wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore”s Civil Aviation Authority announced in late February it had formed a partnership with Indian conglomerate Tata Group to bid jointly for airport projects in India.

The agreement came just weeks after Changi announced it would spend USD138 million to acquire a 29 percent position in China”s Nanjing Lukou International Airport.

Hong Kong International Airport has already moved into Mainland China taking on the management of Zhuhai Airport under a 20-year agreement.

HKIA formed another joint venture in China in mid-December, this time with Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport.

Attracted by an ambitious expansion program led by the government, and by the flood of related businesses moving into China, foreign capital and management expertise is also pouring into China”s airport operations.

China shows no signs of running out of expansion opportunities for foreign airports any time soon. The country”s dizzying growth in air traffic has the authorities scrambling in a race to avoid paralysis. By last June, 18 of China”s 142 commercial airports had reached capacity, and another 29 stood to reach their cargo limits by 2010, the Civil Aviation Administration of China warned.

Aiming to push the number of commercial airports in China to 186 by 2010, authorities in Beijing have earmarked more than USD17.5 billion for modernization and construction of airports over the next four years.

FedEx Express is developing a USD150 million hub at Guangzho airport, which is slated to become the integrator”s largest hub outside the United States. FedEx is building an 880,000-square-foot facility sitting on 156 acres with a capacity to handle up to 24,000 packages in an hour. DHL, which expanded its express facilities at several Chinese airports last year, has pledged to set up an operations center at Baiyun.

On the freight side, the biggest push for the airport likely will come from China Southern Airlines, which is based in Guangzhou.

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Goverment urged to solve Sri Lankan Postal Employees' problems

Posted by | Mar 27, 2007 | |

Lanka Postal Union President Vivekanandalingam said the government’s mediation is essential to settle the Postal Department employees’ problems.

Vivekanandalingam addressing the media at the Sri Lanka Postal Union Office said all Department employees would go on sick leave today ( March 27) demanding the authorities to modify and introduce new postal systems without reducing their service period and benefits.

He said the Department which is running at a loss cannot be converted into a profitable organisation by cutting down employees’ benefits and working hours. He said it could be achieved only by introducing new methods in the Postal Department suitable to postal sector.

He said thirteen trade unions would join in the agitation. “No action has been taken to uplift the Postal Department though the Department is running at a loss.

“The Treasury says that by cutting down the facilities and service of the employees and by reducing the working hours the Department could be converted into a profitable institution.

“However, several projects started to uplift the Postal Department ended in failure,” he observed. Postal and Telecommunication Officials Union President H.M. Navaratna Bandara stressed the postal service was a people’s service and that they were striving to protect the service on behalf of the public.

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Japan Post to adopt major bank system for Yucho unit

Posted by | Mar 27, 2007 | |

Japan Post plans to adopt a computer system now in use at a major Japanese bank for its new “Yucho” savings bank operations, which will be created through the privatization of postal services, it was learned Tuesday.

Japan Post will invite proposals for the new system, probably from Hitachi Ltd. , Fujitsu Ltd. and IBM Japan Ltd., and make a final decision in late May at the earliest, informed sources told Jiji Press.

The state-owned postal service corporation intends to launch the new Yucho bank system in January 2009, according to the sources.

Upon government approval, the Yucho bank plans to offer new services such as mortgages, foreign currency deposits, and loans to small and medium-sized companies. The services will be launched after the breakup and privatization of Japan Post in October.

However, Japan Post’s current computer system for Yucho savings is not equipped to handle such services.

Instead of creating a totally new system, it plans to introduce a system used at a major Japanese bank and connect it to the current Yucho system, the sources said. This, it hopes, will allow a smooth changeover to the new Yucho bank system in a short period of time.

According to Japan Post’s criteria, the new system needs to be already in use at 400 or more manned bank branches in Japan and capable of covering operations at 600 or more such offices, the sources said.

Only three bank systems are believed to satisfy such criteria–the Hitachi-made system for the former UFJ Bank, the IBM Japan system for the former Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, and the Fujitsu system for the former Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, now Mizuho Bank. UFJ Bank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi merged into Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in 2006.

The Yucho bank is one of four offshoots to be created in October at the start of Japan Post’s 10-year privatization process.

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MICA Launches Public Consultation on Draft Postal Services (Amendment) Bill

Posted by | Mar 27, 2007 | |

The Ministry of Information, Communications & the Arts (MICA) is embarking on a public consultation to seek feedback from the industry and members of the public on the draft Postal Services (Amendment) Bill, which will effect amendments to the existing Postal Services Act.

2 The Postal Services will be fully liberalised when Singapore Post Ltd (SingPost)’s monopoly license for Basic Mail Services expires on 31 March 2007 . The Postal Services (Amendment) Bill will provide the legislative framework for liberalising Basic Mail Services.

3 MICA and the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) are working together to develop updated legislative and regulatory frameworks for the postal services sector. MICA will take into account the comments provided during this public consultation when finalising the draft Postal Services (Amendment) Bill in preparation for its consideration in Parliament.

4 The revised legislative and regulatory frameworks for this sector are expected to be fully implemented within this year. Upon implementation of the revised regime, interested industry players will be able to apply for licenses to operate in the basic mail services market.

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