Hitachi, Ltd. and the Industrial Bank of Japan (IBJ) have entered into an agreement under which, 
starting in July, the companies will use Hitachi's high-reliability TWX-21 business media service
 to jointly market CMS solution Integrated Treasury support services (ITss) utilizing each group 
companies.
This agreement will make it possible to provide more integrated, effective support to TWX-21 
members, which currently number some 1,500 companies, improving the efficiency of their 
operations and reducing costs, while ITss will enable them to strengthen their financial structure

In recent years, the Internet and other information communication technologies have been 
permeating throughout society, and corporate activities are becoming increasingly borderless and 
globalizing at an ever faster pace.  This has generated a need for highly reliable corporate 
extranets and business applications that allow such developments to be coordinated while moving 
ahead with implementation.  At the same time, on the financial affairs side, the growing need for 
increased management efficiency at the corporate group level means that companies are having 
to tackle consolidated financial accounting, cash flow management and other new management 
methods and techniques.
Since fiscal 1998, IBJ has been using Internet-based communication links with corporate 
group companies to build intra-corporate banks, making optimum use of the convenience and 
settlement functions of main and regional banks, to thereby provide commercial Integrated 
Treasury support services relating to asset concentration, proxy payment, residual asset utilizatio
n,group finance management and netting.
By enabling a corporate group to centralize its cash flow management, the introduction
of ITss makes it possible to efficiently utilize excess funds produced by the circulation of funds 
within the group, reduce interest-bearing loans and decrease financial costs.

In 1997, Hitachi launched TWX-21 as Japan's first extranet-based business media service, 
and since then has started a number of business application services that include estimate support,
exchange of drawings and specifications, order reception support, comprehensive transfer of 
funds, distribution operations and electronic commerce in addition to the implementation of 
network infrastructures and business platforms.
TWX-21 also facilitates the development of partnerships by using tie-ups between Hitachi 
and other service providers to bring new services to member companies.
The new marketing agreement will make it possible to provide services that combine IBJ's 
ITss cash management system service with Hitachi's TWX-21 business media service.  This will 
give member companies access to a broad-based menu of services ranging from design, purchase 
of materials and sales to settlement and utilization of funds, enabling, for example, a sequence of
purchase transaction operations such as checking of product information, ordering and payment 
to be seamlessly implemented over the Internet.