	foreign firms hope to join japan telecom company one of two rival firms seeking to enter japan s international telecommunications market said it will offer a stake in the company to foreign firms president of international telecom japan inc itj nobuo ito decline to specify what share the firms would take but told reuters they would not participate in its management itj and international digital communications planning inc idc in which both cable and wireless plc cawl l and pacific telesis group pac n own pct stakes are set to merge into a new entity to compete against kokusai denshin denwa co ltd kdd the ministry of posts and telecommunications has urged the two rival firms to merge so kdd would have only a single competitor the ministry has also rejected foreign management japan s law limits foreign ownership of any new international telecommunications entrant to pct so c and w s and pacific s stakes could be three pct in the merged firm sources said those seeking to join are general electric co ge n ford motor co f n citibank na bankamerica corp bac nyse shearson lehman bros inc saloman brothers asia boeing computer service unisys corp uis n societe generale and deutsche bank ag dbkg fra the merger plan has been criticised for excluding foreign firms from a meaningful position in the market the u k s prime minister margaret thatcher u s secretary of state george shultz u s commerce secretary malcolm baldrige and u s trade representative clayton yeutter have all expressed such opposition japanese prime minister yasuhiro nakasone will draft a reply to the criticism following further discussion a posts and ministry official said reuter 
