RANGOON — Burma’s postal service has increased public trust after receiving technical expertise from Japan, said the Japanese parliamentary vice-minister for internal affairs and communications.
The parliamentary vice-minister Megumi Kaneko visited the Rangoon General Post Office on Tuesday—nearly three years after the two countries signed the first memorandum regarding the postal business, which enabled Japan to help modernize Burma’s postal system using the Japan Post as a model.
“During my visit to the General Post Office, I [observed] that the public has more trust in the postal service than in the past,” Kaneko told the media at a press conference on Tuesday.
“We are trying to implement a postal service model incorporating Burma’s network of some 1,380 post offices around the country,” she added.
Japan Post Co. dispatched specialists and technical trainers to major post offices in three principle cities: Naypyidaw, Rangoon and Mandalay. Burma’s General Post Office under the ministry of Transport and Communications also sent its staff to Japan for training sessions following the agreement to seek assistance from Japan in early 2014.
Japanese specialists conducted a comprehensive review and survey on the Burmese postal service and introduced a system called “Kessoku,” which aimed to optimize operation schedules for precise and efficient deliveries.
Kaneko said the reputation of the postal service in Burma was not satisfactory in the past and she had pledged to help improve the quality of the country’s postal system, expecting that its business potential would attract Japanese investors.
Delivery times for express mail between cities—which had averaged 2-3 days in the past—were shortened to 1.1 days and deliveries of ordinary mail—which had taken 4-5 days—were shortened to 1.6 days, she said at the press conference on Tuesday, referring to their evaluation survey.
The parliamentary vice-minister will visit Naypyidaw on Wednesday to meet the minister of transport and communications, as well as the information minister, for further collaboration in information technology and broadcast services.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Burma to attend the Japan-Asean summit meeting in November 2014, and Burma’s State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi went to Japan in November to discuss aid to Burma and future business collaborations.
