To the Press

Ongoing Water Environmental Awareness
Program Provided in Cooperation withInternational NPOs

October 3, 2013

Environmental Awareness Programin Vietnam 2013

- Learning the Importance of Water with Children –August 10- 14, 2013
Since 2007, LIXIL Corporation (Headquarters: Tokyo, President: Yoshiaki Fujimori) and its
local subsidiary LIXIL INAX VIETNAM Corporation (“LIXIL VIETNAM”) have been conducting
the “Water Environmental Awareness Program” for children in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam(“Vietnam”). At present, we are promoting the program in collaboration with two internationalNPOs, namely Bridge Asia Japan (“BAJ”) and Seed to Table (“STT”).

In tandem with Vietnam’s economic development, the business of LIXIL has been steadily
growing, with its sanitary ware having gained the largest market share in the country. To
contribute to local society and to fulfill its social responsibility as a leading manufacturer inVietnam, LIXIL consistently provides educational programs with consideration to the social
conditions and circumstances in Vietnam. At LIXIL, we are not merely trying to grant financial
aid, but offer educational programs by creating our original textbooks, “Let us think about toilets”
and “Let us think about and study water,” and dispatching our employees to serve as instructors.

From August 11 to 14, 2013, we organized the 13th session of the environmental awarenessprogram in Hoa Binh Province and Thua Thien-Hue Province. The 13th session comprised
environmental classes and a factory tour at LIXIL VIETNAM.
Table of ContentsAugust 11: Activities with STT: Environmental classes in Dich GiaoVillageAugust 12: Report on activities and factory tour at LIXIL
VIETNAMAugust 13, 14: Activities with BAJ: Environmental classes
LIXIL business in Vietnam
Record of major activities

■Activities with STT: Environmental Classes in Dich Giao Village (August 11)

Dich Giao Village is located in Tan Lac, Hoa
Binh Province, a mountainous area located in thenorthwest region of Vietnam. The village, about
125 km from Hanoi, is home to several minorities
whoobserve

theiroriginallanguages

andtraditional customs. Villagers earn their living by
cultivating their farms on steep slopes. In Dich
Giao Village, about 3,600 people (about 800 Dich Giao Village, located amid a rich naturalhouseholds) live in 14 hamlets. In our most recent

settingenvironmental awareness program, we had a totalof 87 participants, including schoolchildren andmembers of the local youth association.
In the morning, staff of LIXIL dispatched fromJapan and staff of LIXIL VIETNAM gave lectures,using their original textbook, “Let us think abouttoilets.” This was the third time we had held thisenvironmental awareness program in Dich Giao
Village. In previous sessions, the children hadlearned about water and how to preserve waterChildren listened carefully to the lecture given byMr. Son, an employee who served as aninstructor.

quality. Since they already know well that alifestyle without toilets can cause water pollution,using the new textbook, we taught many things
about toilets: their history, various types of toilets,
how to use them, and how to clean them.
In the afternoon we held a workshop. The
children were divided into several groups andprepared reports on a survey they had undertaken
concerning toilets in their respective hamlets.

Senior members led the workshop.

They prepared the reports using large pieces ofpaper, with photographs pasted on them. Based on what they had learned during the morningclasses, they discussed the characteristics, and both the merits and demerits of different typesof toilets. After completing the reports they participated in group presentations, which
provided them with a good opportunity to learn about toilets in other hamlets and reconsider
their own toilet systems.

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Since STT is funding a campaign to build toilets in Dich Giao Village, LIXIL is supportingthe campaign. In cooperation with the local youth association, we conducted a survey of toilets
across the village. By March 2013, we helped complete the installation of toilets in 50
households in the upper basin. In districts without a water supply and sewage systems, werecommend dry toilets, since they treat human waste and turn it into organic compost
material that can be used to fertilize the soil.

Report on Activities and Factory Tour at LIXIL VIETNAM (August 12)
On the second day, we invited 90 villagers from Dich Giao Village, including therepresentatives of the village, and children and other participants in the environment
awareness program, to LIXIL VIETNAM. There they gave presentations on theirenvironmental activities and toured the LIXIL VIETNAM factory. During the presentation
session, the villagers reported their environmental activities undertaken with support fromSTT, along with the results of their survey about village toilets (the report they compiled
during the class on the previous day). The villagers proudly gave presentations, using theirown words.
After the presentation session, the participants toured LIXIL VIETNAM factory. Looking atthe production lines in operation, they listened to explanations about the production method
for toilet systems. Since the villagers had been looking forward to the tour, they wereextremely keen to observe the factory lines. After the tour, they asked many questions
regarding treatment methods for waste from production lines, as well as sewage treatment
techniques.

Presentation by representatives of the village at
LIXIL VIETNAM

Villagers listening to an explanation given bystaff of LIXIL VIETNAM

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Activities with BAJ: Environmental Classes in Quang Vinh and Vinh An Districts (August 13, 14)
On August 13, we held environmental classes for 105 elementary schoolchildren in QuangVinh District, Quang Dien County (20 km from the center of Hue). On August 14, classes were
held for 32 elementary and middle school students in Vinh An District, Phu Vanh County. In
both districts, BAJ has been providing environmental education to local children. BAJ fosters
environmental awareness among children by letting them learn different approaches used invarious districts through exchanges with children from other districts.
During the environmental classes, we asked children to give presentations about their daily
activities to protect their local environment. In the classes we used our original textbooks andconducted water quality tests using Pack Test kits.*1
In the afternoon of August 14, we held discussions with college student volunteers. Throughthe discussions, we were able to confirm the effectiveness of our original textbooks. We werepleased to find that the college students had become increasingly interested in environmental
and other societal issues, a fact indicating the growth of next-generation leaders ofenvironmental protection movements in Vietnam.
At LIXIL, we are reinforcing our ties with local people through the environmental
awareness program. We are delighted to see changes in children’s behavior. For instance,children have begun to take rubbish home instead of throwing it away on streets. The
campaign to build toilets, which we started as part of our activities in collaboration with STT,
has been spreading to many villages. We are determined to continue this environmental
awareness program by involving the staff of LIXIL VIETNAM and seeking cooperation fromNPOs. We hope to develop curricula suitable for the present situation in Vietnam.
＊1 Pack Test kits: kits for measuring levels of water contamination and identifying pollutants by usingchemicals that change color

Children studied about water in their districts

Sampling river water and conducting a water quality
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■LIXIL Business in Vietnam
In the LIXIL Group, American Standard is the first sanitary ware brand which entered theVietnamese market. American Standard started its production and sales activities in Ho Chi
Minh in 1996, followed by INAX in Hanoi in 1997. With these two brands, LIXIL currently
has the No.1 market share in the Vietnamese sanitary ware market. In 2010, we began to sellfittings, as we started operation of a new factory. Then, in June 2012, we also entered into theelectric water heater market which seems to be promising.
Moreover, in the area of building materials, LIXIL has been engaged in manufacturing andsales of dry exterior tiles, mainly mosaic tiles, since 2008. The factory for residential sashes
will begin its operation in fall, 2013. From now on as well, we are going to expand ourbusinesses in Vietnam.
Record of major activities
2007:

Start of activities with BAJ and Save the Children Japan (“SCJ”) (3-year contract)
Creation of original education textbook (April)
Training of INAX VIETNAM Co., Ltd. *2 staff to become instructors; briefing to government andeducational organizations
Commencement of environmental education programs targeting educators and children in Yen Bai,
the north of Hanoi, and Hue (June through August)2008:

Children from Yen Bai and Hue invited to the Eco-products International Fair (Hanoi)
Factory tour at INAX VIETNAM Co., Ltd. (March)
Environmental education programs in Yen Bai and Hue (June)
Environmental education programs in Yen Bai, Hue, Ho Chi Minh, and Qui Nhon (December)

2009:

Environmental education programs in Yen Bai, Hue, and Ho Chi Minh (July)

2010:

Start of activities with BAJ and STT
Environmental education programs in Hue and Qui Nhon
Factory tour at INAX VIETNAM TILE Co., Ltd. *3 (January)
Environmental education programs in Nam Son Village, Hoa Binh Province, Hue, and Ho Chi Minh(July)2011:

Environmental education programs in Nam Son Village, Hoa Binh Province, Hue, and Ho Chi Minh(January)
Environmental education programs in Phu Vinh Village, Hoa Binh Province, Hue, and Ho Chi Minh
Activity report by Nam Son Village residents, factory tour at INAX VIETNAM Co., Ltd. (July)2012:

Environmental education programs in Phu Vinh Village, Hoa Binh Province, and Hue
Opinion exchanges in Dich Giao Village, Hoa Binh Province (February)
Environmental education programs in Dich Giao Village, Hoa Binh Province, and Hue
Activity report by Phu Vinh Village residents, factory tour at LIXIL INAX VIETNAM Corporation(July)

2013： Environmental education programs in Hoa Binh, and Hue
Activity report by Ngoi Sao junior high school students, factory tour at LIXIL INAX Saigon
Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (March)*2 INAX VIETNAM Co., Ltd. : Current LIXIL INAX VIETNAM Corporation*3 INAX VIETNAM TILE Co., Ltd. : Current LIXIL INAX Saigon Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

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