Opening of the Hitachi Europe Ltd Representative Office in Poland

PRESS RELEASE Opening of the Hitachi Europe Ltd Representative Office in Poland Warsaw, 10 th May. Hitachi Europe Ltd a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd, today announced that it is opening a Representative Office in Warsaw acting as a Business Development Office (BDO).

The main purpose of the new office is to support Hitachi’s operations in Poland.

The Hitachi BDO in Poland is the first of its kind in this part of Europe. The activities of the BDO are intended to assist Hitachi in its expansion in Poland and other countries in Central & Eastern Europe.

“We decided to open our office in Poland because of the dynamic growth and good prospects of the Polish economy,” said Sir Stephen Gomersall, Chief Executive for Europe. “This part of Europe is potentially a large sales market for our products, and also offers a great many investment opportunities in numerous sectors in which Hitachi is active. Certainly one of the advantages of Poland is its large number of young, well-educated people. This definitely encourages investment in this country.” Key tasks of the Hitachi Office in Poland: • Market monitoring and analysis – The BDO will seek investment opportunities for companies in the Hitachi group who are active in Poland directly or via local representatives, as well as for companies from the group which so far have not been present in this country.

• Identifying and evaluating potential customers, suppliers and partners – These activities should assist in forming business contacts with local companies.

• Support for specific Hitachi companies in the initial business phase, such as assistance in registration, finding offices, start-up of plant production, and the like.

Page 1 of 3 PRESS RELEASE Opening of the Hitachi Europe Ltd Representative Office in Poland • Building up the Hitachi brand and increasing brand awareness in Poland through public relations activities, as well as sponsoring and participating in trade fairs, and organizing promotional and advertising campaigns.

• To further interest in the Polish market and attract other companies from the Hitachi group to Poland, the BDO will also cooperate with local institutions and organizations such as the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ).

Among the industry sectors in Poland which are of particular interest to Hitachi are transport, energy infrastructure, construction, electronics, and the automotive industry. “Currently we are selling, directly or indirectly, some dozen or more product lines from various business segments, ranging from data storage systems to consumer electronics and power tools,” said Piotr Zawadzki, Group Business Development Manager for Poland. “In Europe, Hitachi offers a total of some 30 different product lines. Any of them could potentially be offered also in Poland. It is possible that additional companies will begin operating in Poland in the near future.” In addition to many local distributors and resellers with whom the company cooperates for many years, Hitachi has two other legal entities established in Poland – Hitachi Data Systems (Polska) Sp. z o.o. (data storage systems) and Hitachi Power Tools Polska Sp. z o.o..(power tools). Furthermore, one of the group companies – Hitachi Digital Media Group has its own representative taking care of distribution of consumer electronics such as LCD and plasma TV’s, video camcorders, and projectors.

— ENDS — Notes to Editor About Hitachi Europe Ltd. Hitachi Europe Ltd., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., Japan. Headquartered in Maidenhead, UK, it has operations in 15 countries and employs 470 people across Europe, the Middle Page 2 of 3 PRESS RELEASE Opening of the Hitachi Europe Ltd Representative Office in Poland East and Africa. As a ‘Best Solutions Partner’ Hitachi Europe tailors its services and solutions to meet the specific needs of its customers. Hitachi Europe comprises eleven key business areas: power and industrial systems; rail; industrial components & equipment; information systems; high performance computing; digital media; display products; air-conditioning and refrigeration systems; procurement and sourcing; corporate technology group (research & development) and the Hitachi Design Centre.

For more information about Hitachi Europe Ltd., please visit www.hitachi-eu.com .

About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 356,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2005 (ended March 31, 2006) consolidated sales totaled 9,464 billion yen ($80.9 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at www.hitachi.com .

For more information about Hitachi in Poland, please visit website at www.hitachi.pl.

PR Contact Masanao Sato +44-1628-585379 masanao.sato@hitachi-eu.com Page 3 of 3