March 07, 2008 Corporate strategy conference

As for procurement reform, since 2004 we have made progress in such areas as the concentration and consolidation of suppliers and in the unification of Group purchasing information.

In the future we will further bolster our production reforms and seek to attain a high level of cost reduction by, among other things, maintaining the initiatives that we have cultivated thus far as well as further enhancing the Group's centralized management structure and promoting cooperation with suppliers.