MHIA Relocates to Houston

Today Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. (MHIA), a Group company overseeing the business of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) in North America, commenced full-scale operations at its newly relocated Head Office in Houston, Texas, following a move from its previous base in New York.

MHIA held a reception at Rice University today to mark the occasion in the presence of guests including The Honorable Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas.

Present at the reception, MHI President & CEO Shunichi Miyanaga offered the following remarks: "I am delighted that we have been able to set up a new base in Houston to better serve our customers and oversee our Group operations in North America. As a city with a heavy concentration of cutting-edge industries, Houston holds great promise as a key driver of America's economic development long into the future. Houston is a hub for many of our customers, and this move helps us to better support their businesses. I am confident that MHIA's new Head Office will take a strong lead in expanding our business in North America and enable the MHI Group to contribute to the economic and social development of Texas and the entire region."

Texas is home to a high concentration of MHI's customers in the most robust and growing areas of its business, including environmental systems, chemical plants and compressors. Relocating MHIA's Head Office to the state will enable more efficient business operations oriented to the local market.

Welcoming MHIA to Texas, Governor Abbott commented: "Texas is home to around 1,200 MHI Group employees and we are honored that they have chosen Houston for their U.S. headquarters. In Texas, free enterprise flourishes thanks to our low taxes, reasonable regulations and right-to-work laws, and I look forward to Texas' continued growth as a North American hub for global trade and investment."

Bob Harvey, President and CEO of Greater Houston Partnership, who assisted MHIA's move to Houston and co-hosted today's event, commented: "The Partnership applauds MHIA's commitment to growing jobs and investment. As a global trade and manufacturing hub, Houston is well positioned to serve as the location for MHIA's headquarters."

The decision to shift MHIA's Head Office from New York to Texas enables the company to focus more on its customer base and bottom line, as a way of achieving MHI Group's 2015 Medium-Term Business Plan targets as early as possible.

Houston lies at the center of the economic and industrial zone along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The city, the fourth most populous in the United States, is home not only to the oil and natural gas industries but also to the aerospace and other cutting-edge industries. It also functions as a major transportation hub, offering easy access to destinations throughout North America.

Houston is also home to the Head Offices and manufacturing plants of MHI Compressor International Corporation (MCO-I) – the American subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation (MCO), an MHI Group company – and Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc. (MCFA), the American business unit of Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift Co., Ltd. The surrounding area is also home to the Head Office of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation America, Inc. (MITAC-A) and the sales & service bases of MHIA's Environmental & Chemical Plant Division and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas, Inc. (MHPSA). MHI's Oil & Gas Business Development Department also has a base in Houston, meaning the MHI Group as a whole now accounts for 1,200 jobs across the State of Texas. Going forward, MHIA will further strengthen its ties with these various bases.

MHIA President & CEO Kenji Ando said: "As we launch operations at our new Head Office, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to the city of Houston, the state of Texas, and everyone who cooperated in making this possible. I hope that in the years ahead, our new Head Office enhances our network in Texas and across North America, supports the expansion of our product businesses, and contributes to this important region's ongoing development."

MHI has had business dealings in the United States for decades, initially by exporting ships. In the 1960's the company introduced new products like civil aircraft to the market, and established MHIA as a local subsidiary in Chicago in 1979. The MHIA office moved to New York in 1985 and today, from its new home in Houston, provides corporate functions to local MHI Group subsidiaries in more than 100 locations across 30 states spanning a wide range of businesses including chemical plants, transportation systems, corrugating machinery, machine tools, tire machinery, small business aircraft and more.

The U.S. ranks No.1 in terms of MHI Group sales posted by any single country outside Japan. Following the relocation of MHIA's Head Office to Houston, the company will now set down deeper roots in this important city and undertake business operations more dynamically than ever before.