According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, TRADIM (Technology Research Association for Advanced Display Materials), a Japanese consortium of 14 LCD-related companies, has embarked on an R&D project for ultra-thin, bendable LCD panels. TRADIM has a budget of 3.1 billion Yen (US$26.9 million; US$1 = 115 Yen), and aims to develop by the fiscal year 2009 a flexible, one-millimeter thick LCD panel by means of resin substrates and integrating multiple functions on a single LCD film. The consortium expects the panel to be used in portable devices and on curved surfaces. Members of the consortium include Sharp, Sumito, and Dai Nippon. Institutes such as the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology will also participate in the project.