CONNECT June 2019 Message

Dear Colleagues,

I hope all of you had a great start to FY2019 and are settling in nicely while we come to the end of the first quarter.

The new 2021 Mid-Term Management Plan (MTMP) was just announced last month and while you are still digesting what was shared, let me highlight some of the key points that are more relevant to us here in the ASEAN region.

In line with the rollout of the 2021 MTMP, which I also shared snippets of it at the MD Staff Gathering on 2 April, there are five domains or business fields that have been identified as “growth drivers” that will accelerate innovation namely (1) Mobility, (2) Smart Life, (3) Industry, (4) Energy and (5) IT. With these five platforms, Hitachi hopes to provide more holistic solutions to customers by focusing our efforts on improving three types of value specifically, social value, environmental value and economic value.

For us in ASEAN, this is where Hitachi comes in where we will focus mainly on Smart Cities, Smart Governments, and Smart Factories. At the same time, let’s not forget to grow our existing businesses.

Let me cite an example. In Thailand, one of the core strengths of the Lumada Center Southeast Asia is to help factories optimise manufacturing and logistics i.e. to become smart factories. Lumada will shorten many mundane processes giving rise to social value where more time can be spent on other areas of work, and even family. With the shorter processes, the environment benefits with lesser emissions, and needless to say, economic value also increases where less time and money are spent.

By increasing these three values through Hitachi’s solutions, we bring new innovations with partners when we connect cyber and physical spaces and make them interact mutually. And that is how we create new values for customers and simultaneously, a sustainable society.

It may sound easy, but we must tread carefully in every investment or venture that we undertake, especially with the volatility of the current market trends and how the US-China Trade War would inevitably affect us in ASEAN. Given the rapid digitalisation and urbanisation that are also happening in ASEAN, the more we have to be ready for unpredictability. This is the reason why I want to call for stronger collaboration amongst the Hitachi Group Companies. It is this unity that will help us achieve greater growth and reach for the targeted JPY700 Billion revenue by FY2021.

Together, let's transform and remember the challenges faced by our founder and particularly how he overcame those with Harmony, Sincerity and Pioneering Spirit – values that we now call the Hitachi Founding Spirit. Together, let's start powering good for the people in ASEAN.

Kojin Nakakita
Chairman
Hitachi Asia Ltd.