Colleagues and friends of the carbon black industry, it is a pleasure to extend my greeting to the 12th Carbon Black Asia Pacific Conference, which will be held in November 2015 in Yokohama.

It is a great honor for me, Hajime Nagasaka, the President of the Carbon Black Association in Japan, to chair the 12th Carbon Black Asia Pacific Conference 2015. I would like to thank the international panel for selecting Japan to host the 2015 conference.

In 1993, Thailand hosted the 1st Carbon Black Asia Pacific Conference. The 4th conference was successfully held in Hayama, Japan in 1999 with approximately 200 attendants not only from Japan but all over the world. The 12th conference will be the second time for Japan to hold this conference.

The market shares in the Asia Pacific region is the highest among the other global regions regarding the motor vehicle production volume, the new rubber consumption volume, and the carbon black production volume. This market share is expected to continue in the future.

By exchanging information with the key note speaker, and through seminars and exhibition booths, we will all be able to link our successes as participants and as associated industries to the future growth of this industry. Let those involved in the carbon black industry gather in Yokohama to exchange information and opinions for further expansion and development of the carbon black industry, an indispensable industry to the world.

Thus I would like to extend my heartfelt invitation to all of you to attend the 12th Carbon Black Asia Pacific Conference Yokohama. The Carbon Black Association of Japan will do its best to facilitate a smooth operation of this conference. We need all your participation and cooperation for this conference to be a success.

Yokohama is close to Kamakura and Tokyo. Kyoto and Osaka is only a two hour ride on the Shinkansen. You can enjoy the sights in Japan and refresh yourself after the intensive and enlightening conference.

I hope to see you all in November 2015 in Yokohama, Japan.