Based on the spirit of “Sampo-yoshi” (good for the seller, good for the buyer, and good for society), the ITOCHU Group not only pursues profits for our company, we also help to solve social issues, in line with the expectations and trust placed on us by our business partners, shareholders, employees, and various other stakeholders. We seek to create virtuous cycles in society and also to help achieve a sustainable society.

In our management policy announced in April 2024, we seek to improve our corporate brand value as a non-financial initiative based on three measures: reinforcement of human capital, strengthening dialogue with stakeholders, and enhancing our contribution to and engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through business activities. We are devoting major efforts to these key missions as we strive to create a better company together.

We have fewer employees than other companies in our industry. Accordingly, we promote work-style reforms as an initiative to contribute to the reinforcement of human capital, with the goal of enabling employees to work healthily and with a high level of motivation. The introduction of our unique morning-focused working system was ahead of its time, and it is improving the health and labor productivity of our employees as well as helping solve social issues: as a result of proactive information disclosure, it has been described as a best practice for reducing long working hours in Japan. Moreover, our support for balancing work with treatment for cancer, a disease which affects one in two Japanese people, also helps support the advancement of women, whose cancer rates are especially high among those of working age. We have endeavored to create a working environment which eliminates concerns about balancing work and health.

Through ongoing discussions in the Women’s Advancement Committee, which was established in 2021 and incorporates third-party perspectives, we have steadily promoted the appointment of women to key positions, including the first female president of an overseas office and president of an ITOCHU group company in Japan. In 2024, we appointed five female executive officers, bringing the ratio of women among all of our officers to 21%. In addition, we have established a numerical target to increase the ratio of women among all officers and employees (including executive officers) to 30% or higher by 2030. We aim to create an environment where women can play an active role over the long-term. We are also fostering a corporate culture which respects diversity, including by strengthening Femtech initiatives to address health issues specific to women, and making it compulsory for male employees to take childcare leave as a measure to support the growth of dual-income households. These efforts contribute not only to our company but also to helping solve social issues.

Through our measures to promote sustainability, we will not only promote the reinforcement of human capital focused on work-style reforms, we will also contribute to the SDGs through strengthened efforts to address the urgent issue of climate change and environment-related initiatives such as the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). Going forward, we will continue to enhance our corporate value as we seek to address common global issues by further deepening dialogue with stakeholders, including by sharing the spirit of “Sampo-yoshi” internationally.