News Release

Furukawa Electric Europe Ltd. (“FEEL”), a subsidiary of Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., has opened a representative office in Istanbul with the aim of expanding its business region into the Turkish domestic market and the regions of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

The opening of the new representative office is part of a series of activities aimed at building a platform for sustainable growth (“Growth”) by expanding business in the infrastructure and automotive markets and bolstering the Group’s global management, as set out in the Furukawa “G” plan 2015 (medium-term management plan to 2015).

The Republic of Turkey has a population of 75 million and GDP of USD 780 billion. Turkey’s relations with surrounding regions, including the EU, are growing closer, and with private domestic consumption amounting to 70% of GDP it is a major consumer nation. In recent years, the Turkish economy has slowed temporarily as a result of the European crisis and other factors, but bold measures have been implemented to promote the development and upgrading of domestic industry and the country has achieved steady growth of 4% on average.

There has been active large-scale infrastructure investment in surrounding regions such as Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Turkey is attracting attention as a hub base for these regions.

Under these circumstances, FEEL has opened a representative office in Istanbul with the aim of strengthening its marketing activities in the above regions, which are experiencing rapid growth. FEEL has promoted Furukawa Electric products and collected economic information on the above regions. In infrastructure projects, FEEL aims to utilize the advanced technological capabilities and diverse product lineups built up by Furukawa Electric over many years in order to develop solutions in electric power, transportation and fiber-optic broadband. In automotive-related and electronics markets, FEEL aims to contribute to economic development in the above regions and the sustainable growth of Furukawa Electric business through advanced-function materials.