News Release
March 23, 2018
Nishimoto Co., Ltd.
(1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, local code 9260)

Nishimoto Trading Co. Ltd. Forms a Business Alliance with Vietnamese Food
Wholesalers and Establishes a Local Representative Office

We would like to announce that our group company, Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd.
(“NTC”—Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, President Takayuki Kanai) has signed a businessalliance agreement with the SIMBA TRADING CO., LTD (“SIMBA”—Head office: HoChi Minh, Vietnam, President: Cong Binh Nguyen), and has also established arepresentative office in Ho Chi Minh City.
1. Background and goals of the business alliance and establishment of therepresentative officeVietnam has been experienced a significant increase in economic development andincome levels, and consumer demand has been growing in various areas in thisenvironment as well. The food service industry has seen the same trend, and the market
for Japanese food has grown dramatically, with 680 Japanese restaurants across thecountry in 2015 (Source: JETRO/Hanoi, announced in 2016).
In recent years, there has been a surge of restaurant franchises, large-scaled
supermarkets and department stores from Japan. We believe that the popularity ofJapanese food is not a fleeting trend but has gradually established itself as a part of thelocal consumer market.
SIMBA, established in 2004, is a major Japanese food wholesaler in Vietnam. They
have built a distribution network with five bases throughout the country and have agood business relationship with NTC.
By entering into a wide-scope business alliance, we plan to bolster our purchasing
operations with a focus on seafood and fruit, while expanding and implementing
marketing activities for Japanese food sales in the Vietnam and Southeast Asianmarkets. To promote these operations and boost effective relationships with SIMA, NTC

News Releasehas decided to open a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City, and assigned one of ouremployees from Japan to work there.
2. Future forecast
We plan to achieve sales of approximately 600 million yen from exports to Vietnam for2018. Our medium-term goal is over one billion yen from Vietnam alone.
Furthermore, we predict that this alliance will only slightly affect the 2018 December
consolidated results.
3. Overview of SIMBA(1) Company name: COMG TY TNHH THUONG MAI SIM BA (SIMBA TRADING CO.,LTD)
(2) Location: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (with bases in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, NhaTrang, totaling five locations)(3) President: Cong Binh Nguyen(4) Paid-up capital: 10 billion Vietnamese Dong
(5) Company founded: December 2004
(6) Shareholders: Cong Binh Nguyen 55%, other individuals(7) Company business: Food wholesale
4. Overview of the Ho Chi Minh Representative office for Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd.
(1) Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam(2) Manager: Kaede Mitsunaga(3) Start of business: March 23, 2018(4) Office business: Expansion/marketing activities for Japan food sales in Vietnam andSoutheast Asia, along with purchasing support operations for produce with a focus
on seafood and fruit
5. Overview of NTC(1) Company name: Nishimoto Trading Co., Ltd.
(2) Head office: Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi, Tokyo (Registered at Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo
Prefecture)(3) Representative: President Takayuki Kanai(4) Paid-up capital: 80,000,000 yen(5) Principal stockholders: 100% Nishimoto Co., Ltd.

News Release(6) Company business: Development and sale of Asian food products worldwide (AsianFood Global Business), domestic and overseas sales of other products (amenity foodetc.)＜Reference＞
Affiliation

SIMBA

NTC
Representative

Various Support

OfficeEstablished

Developing purchasing
Vietnamese Market

sources in Southeast Asia

The Southeast Asian Market[Contact information for inquiries]
Nishimoto Co., Ltd.
Corporate Planning Department Telephone: 03-6870-2015