PBEC SPOTLIGHTS CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY IN FOURTH-ANNUAL AWARD PRESENTATION AT KUALA LUMPUR

KUALA LUMPUR (May 5, 2002) - The Pacific Basin Economic Council announced tonight the recipients of the 4th PBEC Environmental Award at the 35th International General Meeting (IGM) Opening Gala Dinner. The award recognizes PBEC member companies who combine outstanding environmental protection with positive business results. The cited projects demonstrate sustainability and bottom-line advantages of environmentally-friendly practices.

An international panel of judges who are considered experts in eco-labeling, sustainable development through technology, global change science and environmentally conscious design evaluated the nominations. The award selection was based upon pre-established criteria in four key areas: conservation benefits, business benefits, beneficial uses of technology and managerial innovation.

The results are as follows:

Gold Level: Hyundai Motor Company (Korea) for the development of an advanced environmental program which includes environmentally-friendly production techniques, improved vehicle fuel efficiency and efforts to control amounts of air and water pollutants. The program also focuses on the development of alternative fuels and encourages reuse to prevent the depletion of natural resources. Tangible benefits include the more than 25,000 tons of waste that have been recycled and reused and the development of a real-time measuring system that assures optimum operating conditions and regulatory compliance.

Silver Level: Oji Paper Company, Ltd.(Japan) for the promotion of forests and paper recycling. The program includes the development of overseas tree-planting projects and the increased use of recycled materials. The project also demonstrates substantial reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and waste sent to landfills, as well as the sequestration of domestic and overseas forests. The project had not only environmental benefits but also generated over 2,300 million yen in savings for the company.

Bronze Level: POSCO (Korea) for its efforts in recycling slag into high value-added resources. Despite steel industry efforts, generally more than half of the solid-raw material used to generate slag becomes waste that is sent to landfills. However, POSCO has increased the recycling rate of steelmaking slag by 62% since 1997. The business benefits are equally impressive in that they anticipate profit from recycling slag to increase from US$42.3 million in 2001 to $56.9 million in 2002.

Finalists for the award also included CLP Power Hong Kong, Ltd. (Hong Kong, China); Ebara Corp. (Japan); Fonterra Co-operative Group, Ltd. (New Zealand); MTR Corp. (Hong Kong, China); NEC Corp. (Japan); and United Plantations Bhd. (Malaysia).

About the 35th PBEC IGM:

Speakers at this year's IGM will include Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, and thirteen government ministers from throughout the Pacific basin, as well as senior corporate leaders from some of the region's largest corporations. The ambitious conference agenda will tackle such issues as: the security dimension of economic growth, new developments in trade and investment liberalization, and industry overviews including biotechnology and financial markets.

ABOUT PBEC:

• PBEC is an international association of senior business leaders representing approximately 1,000 major corporations in 20 economies around the Pacific, which account for more than US $4 trillion in global sales and employ more than 10 million people.
• PBEC is a forum through which business leaders create new business relationships, exchange views with government officials, and produce recommendations on key business issues.
• The unprecedented scope of PBEC’s membership constitutes a broad and balanced reservoir of international business knowledge, unmatched in credibility and expertise. PBEC is the independent voice of business in the Pacific.

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Contact:
Steve Olson, Pacific Basin Economic Council
900 Fort Street, Suite 1080
Honolulu, HI 96813 USA
Tel.: +1-808-521-9044/Fax: +1-808-521-8530
E-Mail: steve@pbec.org
Web: http://www.pbec.org