ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has started the “Chuzai-in Furusato Care Service,” a service for watching over the elderly relatives of employees stationed abroad (hereinafter, “staff on overseas assignment”), under a fully company financed scheme provided through Secom Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Shuji Maeda, President & Representative Director; hereinafter “SECOM”).
　
ITOCHU is aiming to further increasing its overseas revenue in Brand-New Deal 2012, its medium-term management plan. One of the key strategic approaches in its overseas policy is to increase the number of staff on overseas assignment to respond to each business situation with more flexibility than before. Providing greater support to staff on overseas assignment will enable them to fully exercise their capabilities. (*)

Given today’s increasingly aging society and the downward trend of the working population, ITOCHU has been striving to create an environment where employees can be posted abroad with no concerns about support for their elderly relatives remaining in Japan. The purpose is to provide assistance to employees facing difficulties looking after their elderly relatives and working at the same time, so that they can concentrate on their overseas assignment during their most productive years.　　　
　
SECOM was the first security company in Japan, and possesses unique research methods and development capabilities nurtured through the security services provided since its establishment. It has 2,750 emergency centers where staff are on standby in case of customer emergency. It is the leading security company in Japan, providing ”Safety and Security” to approximately 1.586 million subscribers nationwide (of which approximately 498,000 are house residential subscribers and 260,000 are condominium residential subscribers).
　
At ITOCHU, which understands that employees are in need to be able to take care of elderly family members living alone, has decided to combine the services offered by SECOM’s subsidiaries, Secom Medical System Co., Ltd. and Secom Home Service Co., Ltd., with SECOM’s medical emergency notification system, which provides online alerts to SECOM in case of medical emergency. ITOCHU believes that this system will provide reassuring support to staff on overseas assignment.

Summary of the Chuzai-in Furusato Care Service

・All employees of ITOCHU stationed abroad are eligible for this service (762 employees in total as of October 1, 2011)
・An individual contract is to be made between the employee and SECOM for providing the service.
・All the associated costs are to be borne by ITOCHU.
　
1) Details of the Service:
The feature of this system is that in addition to SECOM’s medical emergency notification system, it offers a 24/7 phone health consultation service provided by registered nurses of SECOM (Hotto Kenko Line), a twice-monthly regular phone service to confirm the situation of the family member living in Japan and report it to staff on overseas assignment, or a face-to-face visitation service, including brief housekeeping, such as house cleaning or laundry service, and other specific services that can also be added.

Basic Plan (Five services)
・ Medical Emergency Notification Service
・ Emergency Notification Service
・ Fire Monitoring Service
・ Life Monitoring Service
・ Health Consultation Service (“Hotto Kenko Line,” a 24/7 nurse response service)

In addition to the Basic Plan, one of the following safety confirmation services may be added as an option:
　・　Phone service: Twice per month, a call is made to the family member to confirm their status, and a report is then provided to the member of staff on overseas assignment.
　・　Visitation service: Once a month, a visit of no longer than 30 minutes is made, with household work able to be requested within the allotted time. The situation is then reported to the member of staff on overseas assignment.

2) Conditions are as follows:
　 (i) There is a parent of a member of staff on overseas assignment or their accompanying spouse who is aged 70 or over and living alone in Japan without any family members.
　 (ii) The parent of a member of staff on overseas assignment or their accompanying spouse has been certified as requiring support or nursing care.
　 (iii) Other situations in special circumstances where the Company has acknowledged to be necessary.