NEW YORK, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/Asianet/ -- NBC Asia has appointed Mitsui and Co. Ltd. its exclusive media sales representative in Japan. The agreement is the result of a long-term relationship between Mitsui and General Electric. Mitsui has already added a number of blue-chip Japanese advertisers to NBC Asia's advertiser list, including Toyota, NEC, Mitsubishi Motors, and Konica, and forecasts steady growth in Japan-sourced advertising revenues in 1997. Mitsui will also provide Japanese advertisers with the opportunity to conduct global advertising campaigns on other NBC International properties in Europe, the U.S., and Latin America. NBC Asia comprises two networks in the Asia-Pacific region: NBC, a general entertainment and information programming service, and CNBC, a 24-hour, global business and financial television news network, providing extensive and in- depth coverage daily from CNBC's news bureaus in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore and other key Asian financial centers. Currently, NBC Asia has distribution alliances with Star TV, Galaxy Cable, CETV, East Coast Cable, Optus Vision, Guangzhou Cable TV, Shanghai TV, China Central TV, Wharf Cable TV, Asia Television, Sky Cable, ACCION, Cable BOSS, Doordarshan, Maeil Business News, Mariannas Cablevision, Western Systems, TV12, Filmate, and Universal Cable TV. NBC is a global media company with broadly diverse holdings. NBC owns and operates the NBC Television Network as well as eleven television stations (one station pending FCC approval). In the U.S., NBC owns CNBC and MSNBC in partnership with the Microsoft Corporation, and has equity stakes in 17 other cable channels. Internationally, NBC owns NBC and CNBC networks in Asia and Europe, and Canal de Noticias in Latin America. Founded in 1876, Mitsui and Co. is one of Japan's largest sogo shosha. Sogo shosha is a term meaning general or integrated trading company -- a unique Japanese form of business enterprise that handles a diverse range of products and provides a broad selection of services related to trade and investment. With more than a century of operations as a sogo shosha, Mitsui has continually adapted its services to meet client needs and remain ahead of technological changes. One of the important strategies for the company at present is continuing to build a strong profitable position in the information and telecommunications industries. For the fiscal year under review, Mitsui reported total trading transactions on a consolidated basis of JPY17.5 trillion, or about US$163 billion, and at fiscal year-end had 864 consolidated subsidiaries and associated companies. CONTACT: Deborah Thomas of NBC Corporate Communications, 212-664-3220, or Irena Masuilanis of NBC Asia, 011-852-2965-6864