~Cooperation in the areas of Training and Development, Product Development, Development of Vietnamese Markets and other related Areas~

Tata Steel, world's sixth largest and Asia's first integrated steel company signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with Vietnam Steel Corporation, Vietnam's largest steel company in New Delhi today. The MoC was signed between Mr. Dau Van Hung, President of Vietnam Steel Corporation (VSC) and Dr. T Mukherjee, Deputy Managing Director of Tata Steel, in the presence of H.E. Nguyen Tan Dung and Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Honourable Prime Ministers of Vietnam and India respectively. Also present on the occasion were other dignitaries from both the countries.

While the Government of Vietnam is proactive and keen on setting its economy on a fast growth path, it also wants to achieve this on a sustainable basis. VSC recognises the development opportunities that can be created with association with Tata Steel, India's premier steel making company and one of the lowest cost producers of steel in the world. Through this MoC, Tata Steel will co-operate with VSC in the areas of training and development of the VSC employees, assistance in product development, development of Vietnamese markets, sharing of know-how in steel making and mining and will also assist VSC in developing a steel strategy for Vietnam.

Earlier, on May 29, 2007, Tata Steel had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with VSC for the proposed steel and mining projects in Ha Tinh province in Vietnam. In this relation, the Honourable Prime Minister of Vietnam, H E Nguyen Tan Dung also visited the Tata Steel plant in Jamshedpur during his current visit to India and he reaffirmed his full support to Tata Steel for the projects in Vietnam.

This Cooperation memorandum is another step by Tata Steel to strengthen the partnership with VSC and its commitment to be a 'Partner in Progress' with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

About Tata Steel

Established in 1907 by its Founder J N Tata, Tata Steel is the flagship of Tata Group, the largest and most respected business house in India having interests in Steel, Automobiles, Telecom, IT, Energy, Hotels. The Tata Group comprises around 90 companies with total turnover of US$22 billion, equivalent of around 3 per cent of India's GDP.

Tata Steel has one of the most modern steel making facilities and is also one of the lowest cost producers of steel in the world. It has been rated as the world's best steel company for the past three consecutive years by World Steel Dynamics. World over, Tata Steel currently has a capacity of around 26 million tonnes per annum including its recent takeover of Corus and has the second largest global distribution network in 45 countries. Tata Steel which has also set benchmarks in the fields of corporate social responsibility and corporate governance firmly believes in improving the quality of life of its employees and the communities it serves. Tata Steel aspires to become a 50 Million tonne Steel Company by 2015.

The cooperation between VSC and Tata Steel signals the beginning of strong growth of the Steel Industry in Vietnam. We believe that this partnership will result in remarkable success.