The top executive of Kirin Holdings Co. said Tuesday the company may ask the Japanese government for help to resolve a dispute over ending its beer business partnership with a Myanmar military-linked entity, Kyodo reported.

Kirin Holdings President and CEO Yoshinori Isozaki said in an interview with Kyodo News that his company may need such support, depending on the ruling by a Yangon district court after its partner Myanma Economic Holdings Public Co. unilaterally filed a petition last month to liquidate a joint venture called Myanmar Brewery Ltd.

Isozaki said he hopes the dispute on the venture, the biggest beer company in Myanmar owned 51 percent by Kirin and 49 percent by the Myanmar entity, can be resolved by the end of June.

Caption; Pedestrians walk on a street in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo on Tuesday. | AFP-JIJI