Since our establishment in 1937, we at Mikasa Sangyo have played a role in the construction industry and have established a firm footing based on the principle of realizing social capital improvement. Thanks to the support of our customers, we have grown to hold over 60% of the domestic market share in the field of small compacting machines, as well as a large share of the North American and European markets.
However, an overview of the domestic market environment shows that construction demand is not expected to grow as it has in the past, and the arrival of a super-aging society is forcing a shift in the industrial structure. In order for our products to continue to be highly evaluated in the future, it is important that we do not rest on our laurels, but continue our research and development and respond quickly to the demands of the times, such as energy-saving functions and environmental measures.
On the other hand, looking at overseas markets, emerging countries in Asia, Africa, and South America, led by China, have been experiencing remarkable economic growth. In terms of population, these emerging countries are huge markets with over 5 billion people, and rapid progress in social infrastructure development is expected in the future.
In order to respond to the accelerating demand for construction machinery overseas, we have taken our efforts in overseas markets, which we have cultivated for more than 40 years, one step further and in November 2010, we became the first small construction machinery manufacturer in Japan, the United States, and Europe to establish a wholly owned subsidiary in Vietnam, Mikasa Vietnam. Mikasa Vietnam is a manufacturing and sales base that covers the entire Asian region, and at the same time, it is an important strategic base that plays a role as a research and development division in an environment that closely meets the needs of emerging countries. The establishment of a bipolar system between Japan and Vietnam will enable us to provide products that meet the needs of the market better than ever before.
We will continue our efforts to ensure that the MIKASA brand is used by more people in more countries than ever before, and that this will lead to the development of social infrastructure.