 9 February 2015, 12:00 to 19:00, Intercontinental Hotel, Düsseldorf  10 February 2015, 12:00 to 19:00, Hotel Carlton, Lille  12 February 2015, 12:00 to 19:00, The Westin Palace Milan, Milan Programme for the JR East suppliers’ days CONTEXT The internationalization of procurement is a priority for East Japan Railway Company (JR East) which is always looking for the best in class products and technologies from European railway manufacturers. Although JR East has purchased various European products in the past, there is still and the Japanese Government holds zero shares. In the case of JR East, one third of much potential for trade that remains untapped. One of the reasons is that most European manufacturers have a limited knowledge and understanding of the procurement procedures of Japanese railway companies. There are around two hundred railway companies in Japan. In contrast to European railway companies, most of which are public entities, the vast majority of Japanese railway companies are private enterprises. the shares are held by foreign investors. This is the case for JR East which is listed on the stock market, among other railway companies. The management of these private companies is completely independent from government interference, (Japanese-Local languages) will be provided for each seminar, and the reference documents will be made available during the events (in English). On our suppliers’ day, we would like to explain and clarify to European suppliers both our R&D strategy and our procurement policy, in order to increase the uptake of the best European products and services within JR East. We will also dedicate sufficient time to networking, with Q&A sessions, the coffee break, and the reception. Registration is free of charge, interpretation East Japan Railway Company Brussels Branch Square de Meeus 23, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel:+32 (0)2 808 36 43 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/ 1 AGENDA 12:00-13:00 Registration and coffee 13:00-13:20 Introduction Ichiro Takahashi | Executive Director, Brussels Branch TBC | Local co-host or local supporter Session 1: What is JR East? 13:20-14:30 Basic principles of JR East’s Procurement Policy Haruhiko Ogawa | Deputy General Manager, Management Planning Dept. General introduction to JR East, the company and its activities Yasunari Nakajima | General Manager, International Dept. Question & Answer Session 2: What are the products and technologies that JR East is looking for? 14:30-15:20 JR East’s R&D Strategy: what suppliers need to know Tatsuo Odaka | Executive Officer, General Manager, Technology Planning Dept. Question & Answer 15:20-15:50 Coffee Break and Networking Session 3: What are the current topics at R&D Center of JR East? 15:50-16:40 Priorities for optimizing ICT Yoshimitsu Sugiura | Principal Chief Researcher, Technical Center Hiroshi Yamamoto | Principal Chief Researcher, Technical Center Focus on High Speed Yusuke Wakabayashi | Assistant Chief Researcher, Advanced Railway System Development Center Nobuyuki Kimura | Principal Chief Researcher, Frontier Service Development Lab Ken Iwanami | Chief Researcher, Advanced Railway System Development Center Question/Proposal & Answer Session 4: How does JR East purchase railway equipment? 16:40-17:40 Flow of JR East contractual procedures Masaya Nakagawa | Deputy General Manager, Finance Dept. Question/Proposal & Answer 17:40-17:50 Concluding remarks Ichiro Takahashi | Executive Director, Brussels Branch 18:00 Reception and networking East Japan Railway Company Brussels Branch Square de Meeus 23, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel:+32 (0)2 808 36 43 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/ 2