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Joint Venture concerning Automobile Body Production to be Established in Malaysia

Jul. 2, 2003

TOKYO(as of July 2, 2003)-- Nissho Iwai Corporation has reached an agreement to establish Miyazu (Malaysia) Sdn. Berhad, which will provide engineering consultation services concerning press die production and automobile body assembling, jointly with the largest Malaysian automobile manufacturer Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Berhad (Proton) and a leading press die manufacturer Miyazu Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (Head office: Oizumi-machi, Oura-gun, Gunma-prefecture; President: Tetsuhito Miyamura). The company will be capitalized at 17,600,000 MYR (approximately 570 million yen), with shareholders Proton, Miyazu and Nissho Iwai holding equity of 51%, 34% and 15% respectively.

While keeping the post AFTA environment in mind, Proton aims to strengthen its competitive power in the Asian region and, through Miyazu Malaysia, is planning to accumulate internal automobile body assembling production technology, which is the core technology in automobile production. As the first step, Miyazu Malaysia will undertake engineering consultation services concerning the die production for the new car model 'TRM', for which production Proton will commence in December 2005, and will also provide Proton with the press dies. Furthermore, all purchase operations for the dedicated jigs and tools that Proton will purchase will be carried out by Miyazu Malaysia. Therefore, Miyazu Malaysia will continually deliver the dedicated jigs and tools purchased by Proton in future.

Nissho Iwai, which strategically fosters and expands automobile related businesses as a core business field, sees 'automobiles' as an industry that is part of lifestyle, and has began to make cross-organizational efforts in this area of business. Nissho Iwai aims to establish new business models while providing consistent services in line with customer needs, and business incubation capabilities, developed in overseas markets, that are the trading company's forte.

Since 1996, Nissho Iwai has received consecutive orders to provide engineering consulting services on construction of Proton's first plant (in Shah Alam) and the second plant (in Tanjum Malim). Through this joint venture, Nissho Iwai will further strengthen its ties with Proton and discover more business opportunities both inside and outside Malaysia.

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