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総領事のヒューストン通信 |
東芝インターナショナル米国社40周年記念式典
在ヒューストン日本国総領事 大澤勉
President Nakata, President Watanabe, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon,
I am very pleased to be here this afternoon as Toshiba International commemorates its 40th anniversary of business in North America, and am honored to have been invited to take part in this momentous occasion of the Toshiba International Corporation.
As a major business center and the fourth-biggest city in the United States, Houston is blessed with a wide representation of companies and businesses from all over the world, including nearly one hundred Japan-related organizations.Toshiba first came to this great city in 1973, and now employs over 900 workers here.It thus seems especially appropriate that Toshiba would celebrate its momentous 40th anniversary here in Houston, the home to the company’s largest operation in North America.
Toshiba’s image in the United States is one which is linked to high quality, durability, innovation and inventiveness.Although most people probably associate Toshiba with computer and electronic products, the company has created a diverse line of products which literally power the world.Here in Houston, Toshiba’s Industrial Systems Division operation creates a range of different types of motors, power supply systems and adjustable speed drives in its 620,000 square feet of building space.
Houston is the proud home not only to Toshiba’s largest North American operation, but to a company which puts great emphasis on social responsibility.Toshiba makes a positive impact on the greater community through its focus on health, sports and cultural programs, as well as its environmental beautification and preservation efforts, and its sponsorship of youth science and technology programs for schoolchildren in the greater community. And despite the company’s Japanese origins, Toshiba International Corporation is now strongly rooted in American society, and the American-branch of the company has employed department managers with local origins almost exclusively since first coming to the United States.The relationship between Houston and Toshiba has been beneficial to both sides, with the city providing the company with a positive business atmosphere under which to operate, and Toshiba in turn giving so much back to the community.
In its forty years of doing business in North America, Toshiba International has become one of the leading Japanese companies here.I congratulate Toshiba on forty success-filled years here in North America and am confident there will be many more to come.