Japan Post, the world's largest mail group after the US postal service, yesterday pledged to carve out a share of a €22bn ($26.4bn) annual express postal market in the Asia-Pacific region by forging a strategic partnership with TNT of the Netherlands.

Peter Bakker, chief executive of the Dutch post and logistics company, heralded the agreement as "the first time in the history of Japan Post that it has been allowed to create an international postal partnership".