Tokyo, May 23, 2013 – Hitachi, Ltd. (“Hitachi”), Daikin Industries, Ltd. (“Daikin”), Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd. (“Mizuho Corporate Bank”), and Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc. (“Mizuho Information & Research Institute”) today announced that their consortium, with Hitachi as the consortium leader, has been selected to execute the “Smart Community Demonstration Project in Greater Manchester, UK”. The project will be spearheaded by Japan’s New Energy Development Organization (“NEDO”).