The Japanese government announced on November 7, that JR Kyushu procurement will no longer fall under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). JR Kyushu which operates on the most southern Island was fully privatized, when the Japanese government sold its stock-holdings in an IPO conducted last month, which raised ¥416 billion.

JR Kyushu is the fourth former Japan National Railway company to be fully privatized. At present it is difficult to assess how JR Kyushu will conduct its procurement practices from now on. It might be expected that it will set up a procurement system for international suppliers, as the three other JR companies have done. However, JR Kyushu is probably more domestically oriented that the other three, each of which have already developed international ambitions. JR Kyushu also differs from its peers on the Japanese main island, in that it earns the majority of its revenues from non-railway related activities. 

Source: MLIT