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MHI Supporting "Heart-full Soccer in Thailand" International Exchange Program by Urawa Reds Soccer Team
-- Part of CSR Activities Targeting Stronger Ties to Local Communities and Acceleration of Global Business Expansion --
-- Part of CSR Activities Targeting Stronger Ties to Local Communities and Acceleration of Global Business Expansion --
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Tokyo, April 24, 2013 - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) will serve as sponsor of a goodwill exchange to be undertaken by the Urawa Red Diamonds, a Japanese professional soccer team, in Thailand on April 30 and May 1. Support of this event, dubbed "Heart-full Soccer in Thailand," is being undertaken in conjunction with the company's initiatives to contribute to society as a way of carrying out its corporate social responsibility (CSR). It marks the fourth time MHI will be sponsoring Urawa Reds' "Heart-full Soccer" activities, following backing of similar events in Shanghai in 2007 and Singapore in 2008 and 2010. With these sponsorship initiatives the company aims to accelerate its global business expansion through the promotion, in tandem with Japan's overseas diplomatic missions, of undertakings closely linked to local communities.
A reception will be held in the evening of April 30. Among the function's numerous attendees will be Urawa Reds President Mitsuo Hashimoto, Heart-full Club Captain Hiroshi Ochiai (former coach of the Japanese national team) and, representing MHI, Yukinori Horiguchi, Chief Regional Officer of the Representative Office for the Asia Pacific of the Global Strategic Planning & Operations Headquarters. The occasion will provide the Japanese side with an ideal opportunity to strengthen ties of friendship with representatives from the Thai side.
The Urawa Reds launched "Heart-full Soccer in Asia" as a program of grassroots international exchange in Asia in 2007, the year they became the ACL's Asia champions. To date program events have been conducted in 19 countries and regions. Since 2009 these events have been cosponsored together with Friends of the United Nations Asia-Pacific (FOUNAP), a UN-affiliated organization. The latest visit to Thailand marks the ninth; the first took place in 2005 – i.e. before the program was officially launched – to support recovery from that year's Sumatra Earthquake.
In its 2012 Medium-Term Business Plan, a three-year plan launched last year, MHI cited acceleration of global expansion as a core strategy for achieving business scale expansion, and in line with that goal the company is focusing on promoting business operations firmly rooted in the local community. To strengthen such local ties, in October 2012 the Representative Office for the Asia Pacific was newly established within the company's Global Strategic Planning & Operations Headquarters. Through CSR activities such as sponsorship of the Urawa Reds' "Heart-full Soccer in Asia" program, MHI is not only directing efforts into making social contributions around the world, but also looks to leverage such activities as a way of enhancing the company's recognition and promoting its business operations.
About MHI Group
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world’s leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on spectra.mhi.com.