With many railway projects currently under consideration around the world, there is considerable interest in Japan’s railway technologies. We want to extend our activities to other countries so that we do not miss a single opportunity. Overseas railway consulting operations will be conducted mainly by Japan International Consultants for Transportation, which was established in November 2011 by a number of Japanese railway companies including JR East. We want to partner with companies in Japan and other countries to participate in railway projects. We can provide only a limited amount of assistance on our own. But by combining the resources of many Japanese railway companies, I believe that we can use railway technologies to make a big contribution to Japan’s infrastructure exports. This is a central element of Japan’s strategy for growth.

Raising the speed of trains is not the only benefit of Japan’s railway technologies. Japan has many outstanding technologies for reliability, comfort, maintenance and other aspects of operating trains. Backing up all this expertise is Japan’s "frontline skills." Over the years since JR East’s inception, we have accumulated "frontline skills" at a very high level. Consequently, leveraging these skills on a global scale rather than merely exporting railway systems is a major goal of ours.

For example, Japan Transport Engineering Company, which joined JR East in April 2012, is highly skilled in manufacturing railcars. JR East has considerable railcar maintenance expertise. Combining this know-how will allow the two companies to aim for developing higher quality railcars while cutting the cost. We plan to upgrade comprehensive technological skills for railcar production and maintenance while benefiting from synergies with the operations of JR East’s Niitsu Rolling Stock Plant. I want to use these strengths to operate a high-quality railcar production business overseas that is unlike any other in the world.