Japan to Help Myanmar Upgrade Post Offices

Tokyo, Nov. 7 (Jiji Press)--Japan will help upgrade post offices in Myanmar so that they can handle not only mail and parcels but also financial and insurance-related services, based on a sophisticated system of the Japan Post Holdings Co. group, informed sources have told Jiji Press. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will announce the plan during his meeting with Myanmarese President Thein Sein, to be held on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related summit meetings in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar, on Wednesday and Thursday, the sources said. Myanmar is trying to improve its postal network, which has become decrepit after decades of military rule. In fiscal 2014, Japan began helping the country improve mail and parcel collection and delivery services. Japan will expand the scope of its assistance. It plans to support human resources development and offer training to enable some 1,400 post offices in Myanmar to handle savings and loans, the sources said. Also under study is a plan to help these post offices sell goods in a tie-up with convenience stores, according to the sources. During his stay in Myanmar, Abe will visit on Thursday a key post office in Yangon, whose sorting system was developed based on Japanese technologies. Japan also hopes to provide similar assistance to post offices in Vietnam and Russia. The internal affairs ministry has sought 2.7 billion yen for overseas postal assistance measures under the government's fiscal 2015 budget. END