Mr. Randy MacEwen reports

BALLARD AND TOYOTA TSUSHO SIGN DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT FOR FUEL CELL PRODUCTS IN JAPAN

Ballard Power Systems Inc. has signed a distribution agreement with Toyota Tsusho Corp., a member company of the Toyota Group. Under the agreement, Toyota Tsusho will act as a distributor of Ballard-powered fuel cell products in Japan. The initial term of the agreement runs to Dec. 31, 2020.

Randy MacEwen, Ballard's president and chief executive officer, said: "This agreement with Toyota Tsusho Corp. represents an exciting development for Ballard and important progress in the execution of our strategy in Japan. Toyota Tsusho is a large-scale player in Japan and around the globe, with interests in diverse areas and access to the tremendous network of Toyota Group companies across a wide range of end markets."

As the Toyota Group's sole general trading company -- and one of the largest trading companies in Japan -- Toyota Tsusho generated sales of 8.17 trillion yen (approximately $76.3-billion (U.S.)) in its latest fiscal year ended March, 2016.

Toyota Tsusho promotes the development of new business from a global perspective through its focus on mobility, life and community, and resources and environment. Toyota Tsusho's operations span seven divisions: metals; global parts and logistics; automotive; machinery, energy and projects; chemicals and electronics; food and agribusiness; and consumer products and services. Each Toyota Tsusho division maintains highly specialized expertise and also combines know-how and capabilities with other divisions to generate synergy and create new value.

Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has referred to hydrogen as an "energy of the future" and the Japanese government plans to spend more than $100-million on development of hydrogen infrastructure and various other hydrogen initiatives over the next five years.

Yuici Oi, Toyota Tsusho's chief division officer, global parts and logistics division, said: "We envision a number of interesting potential applications for Ballard fuel cell products, including material handling, heavy-duty motive, continuous power and backup power, in addition to powering a range of vehicles. The scope of our business interests offers a range of promising opportunities for hydrogen fuel cell technology."

Ballard plans to deploy an expatriate salesperson in Japan to work with TTC on the execution of a joint sales plan.

We seek Safe Harbor.