January 13, 1997 - John T. Chambers, president and chief executive officer of Cisco Systems Inc., today received a special Trade Award from the Prime Minister of Japan. The award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding efforts to promote trade between Japan and the rest of the world.
Chambers was the only American to receive the award Tuesday afternoon from Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto during a ceremony at the prime minister's residence in Tokyo.
The award noted Cisco Systems' success in becoming the worldwide leader in networking, and for using innovative strategies for developing its business in Japan. The award noted that Cisco "deserves much of the credit for laying the groundwork for the Internet in Japan."
In addition, the award noted that "Cisco Systems has also gone beyond merely selling its products to become an active promoter of cooperation between Japan and the United States. It has, for example, worked with major Japanese electronics companies and universities on joint technology development, demonstration testing and standardization."
In July 1994, Cisco formed a joint venture with 13 leading Japanese technology companies to develop and expand the emerging internetworking market in Japan. The joint venture - Nihon Cisco Systems, K.K. - was the first of its kind to bring together such a broad and diverse group of investors. Japanese participants in the joint venture are electronics vendors Fujitsu, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, OKI, Toshiba and Compaq K.K.; system integrators CSK and NTT Data; content provider Sega Enterprises; and distributors C. Itoh Techno-Science, NetOne Systems, and Softbank.
In the less than four years since the joint venture was formed, Cisco's sales in Japan have increased more than 15-fold.
Chambers, 48, joined Cisco Systems in 1991 and was named president and CEO in January 1995. He is a member of the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, and was named "CEO of the Year" for 1997 in a poll of industry executives conducted by Electronic Business magazine.
Previous American winners of the Trade Award have included James Jones of the American Stock Exchange, John Young of Hewlett-Packard, John Welch of General Electric and John Dreighton of Weyerhaeuser.
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