SYSMEX CORPORATION

    In order to strengthen its sales and support in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region, Sysmex Corporation (HQ: Kobe Japan; President: Hisashi Ietsugu) established SYSMEX MIDDLE EAST FZ-LLC as its local affiliate in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and has been making preparations for its start-up. The affiliate is going to commence operations sequentially. Through positive support of the sales and services of local distributors and pursuit of marketing and academic activities, it will strive for more extensive penetration and greater presence of the Sysmex brand.

    Consisting of the countries on the Arabian Peninsula, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Israel, and Iraq, the Middle East and Persian Gulf region has a population of 350 million, equivalent to 70 percent of the European Union. In addition, it is experiencing fast-paced improvement of the social infrastructure and attracting attention as a new growth market. In the medical field as well, prospects are good for strong growth.

    Thus far, our distributors have outsourced operations to secondary distributors in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region for conducting indirect sales and support operations. In this situation, we established the aforementioned affiliate in Dubai (UAE) and launched preparations for its start-up in June 2008, in order to further strengthen our approaches in the region's rapidly growing market. Upon completion of these preparations, the affiliate will hold an opening ceremony and launch full-scale operations in November. It will steadily help local distributors provide sales and support, as well as pursue marketing and academic activities in 14 neighboring countries. In addition, it is going to send its employees to distributors in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, for providing direct sales and support of Sysmex products to customers.

    By establishing its own base and actively developing sales and support as a manufacturer, Sysmex will get a firm grasp of the local diverse medical needs, promote the spread of diagnostic instruments and reagents in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region, and contribute to further improving the quality of diagnosis.