I would like to offer my sincerest condolences and prayer for the people who died in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that hit the Tohoku and Kanto regions, and deep sympathy to the people who have lost family members, loved ones and friends as well as properties. The earthquake, the greatest to hit Japan in 1000 years, has caused a horrible situation tantamount to a national crisis, and it is more important than anything else for us now to work together hand in hand to tide over this crisis.

We at Nippon Keidanren establish the Keidanren Great Eastern Japan Earthquake Headquarter and are determined to make all-out efforts to recover and restore safety and peace of mind to the people's living at the earliest possible date.

Also, as the power generation facilities of Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. have been damaged seriously, we urge our member companies to restrain use of electricity and save power in the regions under the two electric power companies' jurisdictions, and cooperate in rolling blackouts.