Message from the President || KOBE STEEL, LTD.

Contributing to Society and the Environment by Creating New Value

We have a duty to ensure that the public trusts the Kobe Steel Group's manufacturing operations.

The Kobe Steel Group provides value-added products, technologies and services that cover a wide range of businesses from iron and steel, welding, aluminum and copper, industrial machinery, construction machinery and engineering, to the environment, wholesale power supply and real estate.

These businesses include numerous products and technologies that can help reduce the environmental impact and tackle a whole range of other social issues. I believe that we have a duty to ensure that our manufacturing activities contribute to society and the environment in order to earn the public's trust.

Our Medium- to Long-Term Business Vision, KOBELCO VISION "G," is one of the cornerstones of our contribution to society.

We launched KOBELCO VISION "G" in April 2010 as a medium- to long-term business vision with its goals set five to ten years down the line. We have been actively expanding our operations in an effort to achieve that vision ever since. The "G" stands for the three key concepts of "group," "global" and "growth."

"Group" refers to our commitment to reinforcing cooperation within the Group and breathing new life into the Group as a whole. "Global" refers to our efforts to take outstanding products and technologies that are highly acclaimed in Japan and introduce them to other parts of the world, especially emerging countries where demand is expected to increase in the future. We believe that this will pave the way for the "growth" of the entire Group.

While based on these three Gs, KOBELCO VISION "G" is also one of the key components of our contribution to society. We are determined to create new value that will make a difference in society and the environment on a global scale.

We aim to make every aspect of our management activities "barrier-free."

To harness the group's full capabilities as part of our drive to achieve KOBELCO VISION "G," I believe that we need to break down barriers between organizations and lines of business, so as to enable employees to actively discuss matters with one another while also growing and developing as individuals. We refer to this as a "barrier-free" approach. I believe that promoting barrier-free operations throughout the Group will enable us to contribute to our stakeholders in a variety of ways.

Compliance is the starting point for all of our CSR activities.

All of our efforts to fulfill the Kobe Steel Group's corporate social responsibilities (CSR) start with compliance. We are committed to fostering a groupwide organizational culture that is highly sensitive to compliance, and will continue to reinforce that approach in the future.

We are determined to actively contribute to society and the environment, now and in the future, in order to repay the trust that people have placed in us and live up to their expectations. I hope this report will provide a good introduction to our activities at the Kobe Steel Group.

Finally, I would like to extend our heartfelt sympathies to everyone who was affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. We sustained extensive damage to major facilities ourselves in 1995 as a result of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. In the 16 years since then however, we have managed to rebuild from the ground up, thanks to support from all of our stakeholders. As a company that has experienced a devastating earthquake, we want to do everything possible to provide support and assistance this time round. This report also features details of some of our activities in this respect.

Hiroshi Sato
President, CEO and Representative Director
Kobe Steel, Ltd.

The Kobe Steel Group's Corporate Philosophy
1.	We provide reliable technologies, products and services that satisfy customers.
2.	We support each employee in developing his or her abilities, while respecting mutual cooperation within the Kobe Steel Group
3.	Through continuous efforts for innovative change, we aim to enhance our corporate values.

Helped along by tremendous support from all of our stakeholders, here at the Kobe Steel Group we have continued to hone our skills and technologies and provide products and services that meet the needs of the general public, in an effort to contribute to social development. We have also created an environment in which individuals respect one another, promote group harmony and work together toward a common goal, for the further development of society and to improve our employees' lives. In spite of the constantly changing environment that surrounds the company, we remain committed to taking on new challenges, while also responding to changes quickly and effectively.

The above Corporate Philosophy reflects this sense of determination. We will continue to ensure that all Kobe Steel Group employees adhere to our philosophy as we continue to develop hand in hand with society.