MHI Establishes Offices in Kiev, Ukraine, and Johannesburg, South Africa,
To Explore Demand in Economically Expanding Regions
Through Effective Information Gathering and Brisk Business Development

The new office in Kiev marks MHI's second base within the former Soviet Union region, following the earlier establishment of an office in Moscow. The Kiev Representative Office will initially commence operations under Chief Representative Tetsuya Satou from Japan and one local employee. It will undertake activities to collect information mainly relating to power generation systems, an area in which MHI enjoys a solid record of business negotiations and successful order receipts.

Ukraine is the second-largest (after Russia) among the nations of the former Soviet Union in terms of scale of economy and population. The country, whose economy has been impacted by the worldwide recession, has been promoting economic structural reforms. In March this year the Japanese government agreed to purchase greenhouse gas emission rights from Ukraine in the amount of 30 million tons of AAUs (assigned amount units), and as a result strengthening of the two countries’ relationship is anticipated in the areas of energy, environment and infrastructure improvement.

Recently, orders from Ukraine to MHI have been increasing sharply, mainly in the areas of power generation systems and heating and cooling equipment. Ukrainian steelmakers, for example, have placed orders for a gas turbine combined-cycle (GTCC) power generation plant utilizing blast furnace gas (BFG). The company also expects expansion of its mass and medium-lot manufactured machinery business, including transportation machinery.

The Johannesburg Branch Office will also initially commence operations with a Japanese at the helm, Branch Manager Isao Deki, and one local employee. The office will gather information on South Africa and on other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Its scope of activities will also include handling business inquiries, business talks, exploratory work in developing agencies, and follow-up to activities by local suppliers.

South Africa is a key country within VISTA, the five countries (Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, Argentina) that are attracting attention as the next emerging economies after the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China). The economy of South Africa more than doubled in scale in the past ten years. In 2007 the country's GDP reached US$278 billion, constituting over 20% of the economic value of the entire African continent and about 40% of the sub-Saharan economies. South Africa is also blessed with abundant mineral resources and is the world’s largest supplier of rare metals.

MHI already enjoys close business ties with South Africa, including participation in the program to develop and design a pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) for small-size nuclear power plants. The company also anticipates local business opportunities in power generation systems, including nuclear, in construction and transportation equipment such as motor graders and forklift trucks; and in industrial machinery, including machine tools and injection molding machines.

Through its two new offices, by keeping in close step with the vibrant and energetic economic expansion projected for Ukraine, South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, MHI looks to further boost the momentum of its overseas operations and order-generating activities in the years ahead.