Bridgestone President Honoured with Polish Award

Shoshi Arakawa, chairman of the board, CEO and president of Bridgestone Corporation, has been awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland at an awards ceremony held at the offices of the Polish Foreign Ministry on July 2. The award was presented by Poland’s minister of Foreign Affairs Witold Waszczykowski in the presence of Pawel Wojciechowski, president of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) and Ryuichi Tanabe, the Japanese ambassador to Poland.

The Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland is one of the most prestigious Polish orders that can be bestowed for economic relations. “The Commander’s Cross you kindly awarded me today, as I understand, is the demonstration of your high evaluation of Bridgestone’s contribution to the economic development of Poland. I can also recognise how high your expectation on Bridgestone is for the future” commented Arakawa. “It makes me more deeply impressed to have this famous and prestigious Commander’s Cross in a special year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between Poland and Japan.”

Bridgestone has been active in Poland since 1994 when it established a marketing office. The company’s Poznan plant entered production in 2000, supplying passenger car and light commercial radials to both the domestic and wider European markets. Construction of a new TBR facility in Stargard began this year, and is scheduled to begin operation in 2009.