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Toshiba Corporation
Hitachi, Ltd.
ITOCHU Corporation

TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (Tokyo: 6502), Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo: 6501) and ITOCHU Corporation (Tokyo: 8001) today announced that the three companies have together signed a contract to supply the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) with an Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) package that includes electronic toll collection (ETC), traffic control and equipment monitoring systems. The order has an estimated value of 4- billion yen, and is the first for an integrated ITS package that Japanese companies have received from overseas. The project will be supported by Japanese government loan assistance, and commercial operation is planned to start in the first half of 2017.

The ITS package will be installed on the 55-kilometer Ho Chi Minh and Dau Giay section of Vietnam's North-South Expressway. Toshiba will provide ITS equipment, Hitachi is responsible for construction and ITOCHU for related business affairs.

Increasing traffic congestion is a serious side effect of the continuing economic development of southern Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, and projections show road use and congestion in the region continuing to grow. Installation of the ITS package on the North-South Expressway's Ho Chi Minh and Dau Giay section, one of the most badly affected areas, will help cut traffic jams and improve logistics efficiency. VEC, the project owner, evaluated the technical competence and installation record of companies that tendered for the order, and selected the Japanese companies on the basis of their competitive bid.

The North-South Expressway is currently under construction and will connect Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, with Ho Chi Minh City, via Da Nang in the heart of the country. Once completed, it will be approximately 1,811km long. To meet the country's rapid economic growth, the Vietnamese government in 2008 drew up a master plan for the construction of 22 expressways with a total length of approximately 6,000km, including the North-South Expressway.

Toshiba, Hitachi and ITOCHU will continue to propose ITS systems, including traffic control and ETC systems, and the three companies are committed to contribute to Vietnam's continued economic growth by providing and installing advanced road transportation system.

About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 326,000 employees worldwide. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2012 (ended March 31, 2013) totaled 9,041 billion yen ($96.1 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes infrastructure systems, information & telecommunication systems, power systems, construction machinery, high functional material & components, automotive systems and others.
For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.

About ITOCHU  
The history of ITOCHU Corporation dates back to 1858 when the Company's founder Chubei Itoh commenced linen trading operations. Since then, ITOCHU has evolved and grown over 150 years.

With approximately 130 bases in 66 countries, ITOCHU, one of the leading sogo shosha, is engaging in domestic trading, import/export, and overseas trading of various products such as textile, machinery, metals, minerals, energy, chemicals, food, information and communications technology, realty, general products, insurance, logistics services, construction, and finance, as well as business investment in Japan and overseas.