[Takashi Yamanouchi, Representative Director and Chairman of the Board, President and CEO]

First of all I would like to extend my gratitude for your attendance at this ceremony to commemorate the opening of the Mazda and Sollers joint venture plant. I am also very pleased we are able to hold our event to coincide with the APEC meetings being held here in Vladivostok and to welcome the government officials of both Russia and Japan at our ceremony as well.

Today marks an important day in the history of Mazda. We are able to be here today thanks not only to our great partnership with Sollers, but also to the tremendous support of the Russian Federal Government, the Government of Primorsky region, and the Japanese Government. Representatives from all three were kind enough to join us today. To the team from Sollers and to the governments of both countries, please accept my deepest appreciation.

Our joint venture, MAZDA SOLLERS Manufacturing Rus is a company that combines the strengths of Sollers and Mazda. Through this project, Mazda will strive to ensure aggressive investment and stable employment in the region. I believe this is our responsibility as an automotive company at the vanguard of the industry establishing a plant in the region. I am confident that this project will contribute to the further growth of both the Primorsky region and the city of Vladivostok, an area expected to grow into an important hub, especially within the East Asian Economic group.

Mazda is going to launch two new models in this joint venture plant. The first model is the Mazda CX-5 and its production will start next month. The CX-5 is the first model that fully incorporates Mazda's SKYACTIV technology and since spring has been introduced to markets all over the world. It's proven very popular all around the world, and has been well received in the Russian market as well. The second model is the all-new Mazda6, which debuted at the Moscow Auto Show just last week. We plan to start assembling the model here next spring. We will start by assembling these two models as well as Sollers-owned brand vehicles. Capacity will be 50,000 units annually and we plan to increase that to 100,000 units by adding body assembly and paint lines in the future. When fully up and running the plant will represent an investment of 10 billion rubles (approximately 25 billion yen) and employ approximately 3,000 people. I expect this job creation and investment will contribute to the growth of this region through the creation of a new production footprint for the automotive industry in Russia.

Today the Russian auto industry is rapidly growing, and with annual sales expected to reach around three million units, it is becoming one of the largest markets of the world. Mazda started to build its sales network in Russia in 2005 and in 2011, Mazda's sales volume reached 40,000 units, about a 60% increase on the prior year. Our brand is now highly acclaimed as a unique brand in the Russian market. We were able to achieve this growth in such short period since entering the Russian market due to the high level of quality of Mazda vehicles, strength of the dealer network, and the outstanding work of our team in Russia. This is proof of the excellence of Mazda brand. With the establishment of this joint venture production facility, Mazda aims not only to ensure further growth in the Russian market, but also to make a contribution to the future of the automotive industry in the market.

Lastly, I would like to ask the Russian federal government, the Japanese Government, the Primorsky Government, Vladivostok Municipal Government and people in Vladivostok for their continued support in the further growth of this joint venture business. I hope we can all share the fruitful results in the future.

Thank you.