October 23, 2000 Creating Services Better Suited to Customer Needs and Building a More Open Infrastructure Background and Content of Agreement As the traditional insurance classifications of "life insurance" and "non-life insurance" continue to change, especially with the development of third sector insurance, it is becoming ever more important that insurance firms be able to develop and offer "total" product and service solutions, integrating both life and non-life insurance features, and to strengthen their underwriting capabilities in an even more responsible manner. For it is these measures that will enable firms to provide the quality insurance services that customers today require. An immediate challenge confronting the insurance industry in Japan as it enters the 21st century is that of being able to respond to the customer's needs for increasingly diverse products and services in a prompt and effective manner. Mutually aware of the need to meet this challenge, the four companies comprising the Sumitomo Marine and Fire Insurance and Mitsui Marine and Fire Insurance Group and the Nippon life Insurance and Dowa Fire and Marine Insurance Group have forged an agreement to unite in combining their powerful product and service development and underwriting capabilities with a broad customer base to develop new business functions along the following conceptual lines. 1. Partner companies will strive to develop "Services better suited to customer needs" by drawing on individual brand strength and design capabilities:   - Partner companies will share their diverse strengths in products and services and jointly develop new types of products and services.   - Companies will also work to jointly develop and offer products and services geared to such emerging new markets as the Internet. 2. Partner companies will take the lead in configuring open infrastructures geared to the requirements of our increasingly network oriented communities:   - Efforts will include joint development and establishment of industry standards for a system of insurance agents and an industry infrastructure.