Tag: Japan

Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese Prime Minister, has pledged to privatise the creaking post office network.

He insists that his plan to place the trio of post office businesses, including mail delivery operations, the world’s biggest savings bank and the hefty Kampo life insurance company, into private ownership would form a central platform of his party’s general election campaign. Mr Koizumi called an election last week.

If Japan’s Prime Minister succeeds in privatising the postal service, he will guarantee himself a place in the financial history books.

Most countries, even those which have embraced the liberalisation of their postal services, have stopped short of a stock market flotation.

The reasons are varied: for some governments, the prospect of a privatised postie is politically contentious; other administrations, mindful that the income stream from a well-run delivery network can be very lucrative, prefer to keep hold of the purse strings; and still others believe that postal markets will fetch a higher price once vigorous competition is allowed to flourish.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said his ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) campaign platform for the Nov 9 general election, including a pledge to privatize postal services in 2007.

Koizumi, the LDP president, said the party also promised to privatize money-losing public corporations, reform the social security system and sustain economic growth.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will set up a special committee to discuss the privatization of Japan’s postal services, the LDP’s policy chief indicated.

LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Fukushiro Nukaga made the statement about his party’s plans during a Japan Broadcasting Corp.’s discussion program with counterparts from the ruling and opposition camps.

A key government policy-making panel has kicked off discussions on privatization of the nation’s postal services, with members confirming the principle that privatization will be conducted in a way to stimulate the economy.

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy also confirmed it will pay close attention to the roles of the postal services in local communities and the issue of convenience for the people, economic and fiscal policy minister Heizo Takenaka told reporters after a meeting of the council.