South African Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Japan Visits the Hitachinaka-Rinko Works

September 23, 2020

Tokyo, Japan September 14, 2020 — Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (TSE: 6305; “Hitachi Construction Machinery”) received a visit from the South African Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Japan H.E. Mr. Lulama Smuts Ngonyama (“Ambassador Ngonyama”) at the Hitachinaka-Rinko Works (Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan) during which he visited the entire plant and exchanged views with company officials.

During the visit, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ngonyama, his wife Nokwazi Nokwazelela Ngonyama, and Counsellor Le Roux met Senior Vice President and Executive Officer, Sonosuke Ishii, who oversees Hitachi Construction Machinery’s mining business, and other company officials as they introduced the company’s manufacturing lines of the ultra-large hydraulic excavators and dump trucks for large-scale mines. Following the tour, views were exchanged regarding the future business environment of the mining industry, which is positioned as an industry for supporting social infrastructure in South Africa.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ngonyama kindly commented, “I am very grateful for the efforts by Hitachi Construction Machinery to supply cutting-edge technology for the resource mining industry which supports the electric power supply and social infrastructure which are essential to the South Africa’s development. Today’s visit is an example of strengthening collaboration between South Africa and Japanese private sector, and as the South African ambassador I am extremely happy to deepen engagement through actual factory tour. It has been one year since I came to Japan, and I continue to be impressed by the high sense of Japanese ethics which are not always seen in other countries. I hope that Japanese companies make even greater advance and investments in our country. To make this happen further, we would like to provide any support to Japan at any time.” In addition, there were various questions and a lively discussion about our latest technologies in the mining industry including the verification tests of autonomous ultra-large hydraulic excavators, the Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) installed on AC motor driven rigid dump trucks, and trolley system dump trucks.

The Hitachi Construction Machinery Group will continue to contribute to the economic and social development of the Republic of South Africa through the development, supply, and support of mining machinery and solutions going forward.