Message from Toshiaki Higashihara for New Hitachi Group Employees in FY2020

On behalf of the Hitachi Group, I'd like to express a heartfelt welcome to you all.

First of all, we would like to wish all those who have been affected by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) a speedy recovery, and express our deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones. We are also very grateful for your efforts to prevent the further spread of this infection.

At the Hitachi Group, I am taking the lead in addressing this situation based on the policy of "Placing top priority on the health and safety of the employees working in the Hitachi Group worldwide, as well as their families." I understand you are worried about your company life due to the COVID19, but I would appreciate it if you could understand this basic policy well and act putting your safety and health first in everything.

The Hitachi Group is committed to making every effort to overcome this crisis, and I look forward to your cooperation.

Then, I will discuss 3 topics with all of you who are taking your first steps as members of the Hitachi Group.

Hitachi's mission and founding spirit

To begin with, I would like to talk about how the Hitachi Group that you are joining came about, and the mission that was born at that time. The Hitachi Group was established 110 years ago by founding president Namihei Odaira and several young engineers who shared his spirit, as a venture company. Based on a strong desire to "contribute to society through the development of superior, original technology and products", they repeatedly carried out a process of trial and error, conversed with customers in good faith, and continued to challenge new fields.

All Hitachi Group members today retain such an inherited initiative and way of thinking. I really hope that all of you will share and put into practice "Hitachi's founding spirit", which is comprised of 3 words: a spirit of "Harmony", which involves pursuing open discussions with colleagues and working together once a conclusion has been reached; an attitude of "Sincerity" to earn the trust of the customers; and "Pioneering Spirit", which involves resolutely challenging without being hesitant about anything.

The ideal vision of our company

Next, I would like to talk about our ideal vision of the Hitachi Group. At present, there are many social issues in the world, such as urbanization, declining birthrate, aging population, and climate change. And with the rapid advances in digital technology, various products and services have become intertwined, bringing major changes to businesses, industrial structures, and people's lives.

Under such circumstances, the Hitachi Group aims to contribute to solving these social challenges through "Social Innovation Business," which will realize a better way of life for the people by providing advanced social infrastructures globally using digital technologies. And subsequently, we will become a global leader in Social Innovation Business and transform ourselves into a company that contributes to improving customer's corporate value and people's QoL (Quality of Life) by simultaneously enhancing social, environmental, and economic values.Our strength lies in the fact that we have OT (Operational

Technology), IT (Information Technology) and products within one company. In order to make the most of this strength and create new values together with our customers, it is crucial for the Hitachi Group to work together across regions and individual divisions towards achieving a common goal under the concept of "One Hitachi." It is of vital importance for Hitachi Group companies to step out of the boundaries of individual businesses and combine the technologies and knowledge accumulated in respective fields under "One Hitachi."

I hope that you will always have an image in your minds of becoming a global leader while harnessing the strength of the Hitachi Group. To survive in the global market and achieve medium to long term growth through Social Innovation Business, the most important factor as a global leader is to have products, technologies and services "that can withstand competition." And not only that, I believe by becoming a leader in our own business processes, work styles, and work ethics, Hitachi Group can become a company that will create a chain of innovations. I very much hope that you can fulfill that role by demonstrating your strength within the organization of your affiliation.

What is required of each one of you

And finally, I would like to talk about what is required of each one of you. As I mentioned earlier, the environment surrounding us is evolving day by day on a global scale, and the various challenges that arise are constantly changing. To be able to respond properly to the rapid environmental changes and continue to be a company trusted by our customers, we must demonstrate our maximum strength as an organization. To that end, it is very important for each employee to have a sense of "participatory" awareness to consider the various challenges as "their own" and act accordingly upon their own judgment.

What I would like to ask of you first and foremost is to grow to be a strength of the company as quickly as possible. But in order to do so, I believe it is necessary for each one of you to have a "clear goal." Try to visualize what kind of personnel you want to become in one year, three years, or in ten years' time and think individually of what needs to be done now to achieve that goal and take action accordingly. Take a look back periodically at the progress you are making, and carefully determine what parts have improved, what are still lacking and fill in those gaps and maintain that attitude as a driving force for your growth.

I hope that each and every one of you will grow into a professional world class personnel with a sense of ambition to become a global leader in your individual platforms and eventually succeed in the world.

Conclusion

The Hitachi Group has a wide range of fields in which each of you can challenge with all your strength. Please do your very best with a strong will. Let's combine our strengths and work hard so that the Hitachi Group contributes to society through its technology and becomes a global leader that is trusted and chosen by customers all around the world.

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