Happy New Year, everyone!

To all Toyota Tsusho Group employees and their family around the world, I am very much delighted to extend the warmest greetings and wishes for the new year 2022.

Upon the fresh start of 2022, I would like to share with you where we were last year and what I would like you to engage this year in order for our company to enter the "next new stage."

Firstly, Let us look back on the previous year.

The previous year marked almost the second full year of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the continuance of the difficult situations in the form of travel restrictions and others. Despite such, the penetration of vaccinations and the implementation of government policies spurred the resumption of economic activities in various countries and regions, encouraging the start of a gradual global economic recovery.

However, the outbreak of a new COVID-19 variant at the end of last year compelled Japan and other countries to re-impose tighter travel restrictions and left the control of the disease still beyond sight. Our current situation is no longer one of waiting to return to a pre-COVID world but one of striving to accept the required changes in our behavioral patterns in a with-COVID reality.

Meanwhile, regarding the business environment surrounding our company last year, our supply chains were enormously impacted. Factors included production cutbacks due to semiconductor shortages in the manufacturing industry, centered on the automotive sector, upward pressure on prices due to high outlays for raw materials and energy caused by soaring resource costs, unstable financial markets due to concerns about inflation in the United States, and the tightening of marine logistics and rising costs due to the shortage of shipping containers.

However, even in this increasingly severe environment, the employees of the Toyota Tsusho Group performed their work to the best of their abilities at their respective worksites to fulfill their missions of keeping both supply and production lines moving. My view is that such efforts resulted in a year in which we were able to further refine the functions and business continuity plans that form the foundation of our company despite many hardships.

It was also a year that saw a major shift in the tide of promoting carbon neutrality, which came with an increased awareness of the need for environmental protection. As various countries' government-led economic policies focusing on the environment further accelerated, companies around the world began to largely steer in the direction of resolving environmental challenges. Our company views this change as an opportunity to make further contributions to society and to achieve sustainable growth.

Next, I would like to talk about our initiatives for this year.

In my Management Mission Statement internally issued in November last year, I related to everyone that our company was finally entering a new stage. This is due to the changes in the global environment that I mentioned earlier and the fact that our responsibility to our customers and society is becoming increasingly important in the process of our growth.

For our company to move to our next new stage and achieve sustainable growth, there are three efforts in which I would like all of you to engage this year.

The first is to pursue our Global Vision of "Be the Right ONE".

I would like you to ask yourself and each other within your group or department:

・"Is this work and how we are doing it 'Be the Right ONE'?"
・"Is this business a 'Be the Right ONE' business?"
・"Are we a 'Be the Right ONE' presence for our customers and partners?"

With each employee of our corporate group pursuing the creation of value that is unique and distinctively Toyota Tsusho, by becoming an irreplaceable presence, I would like us to aim at becoming a company that continues to be chosen by our customers and society.

The second, with everyone participating, is to accelerate our initiatives for achieving carbon neutrality so that we can help realize a sustainable society.

We will evolve our Task Force for Promoting Carbon Neutrality, launched in April last year, to a department in April this year, marking its new start as a company-wide cross-sectional entity. Based on the roadmap that we announced in November last year for achieving carbon neutrality by 2030, we will accelerate our company-wide activities namely in the five key areas of renewable energy & energy management, batteries, hydrogen & carbon-neutral fuels, resource circulation & the 3Rs (rebuild, reuse, recycle), and the economy of life.

In addition to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, we will actively promote businesses that contribute to the circular economy and will aim to become the world's leading circular economy provider. And we will fulfill our mission of "passing on a better global environment to the children of the future."

The third is to revitalize dialogue and conversation.

Last year, in conjunction with the renewal of our TWINS intranet, I launched a column called "The President's Room", through which I strive to actively deliver the president's messages.. Also, in addition to gatherings for dialogue with new employees, general managers of the planning department of each division, members seconded to other companies of the Toyota Group, and others, I also started weekly reverse mentoring sessions in which I directly listen to young employees and exchange opinions with them.

What I have felt through such occasions for dialogue is the importance of facing each person, directly listening to what that person has to say, and communicating one's ideas.

The search for a new way of working during the COVID-19 pandemic has begun. While the usefulness of telecommuting has been verified, I have noticed that our conversation through the telecommunication tends to be minimal and that there are fewer opportunities for advice and idea generation arising from casual talk or other friendly exchanges.

When meeting customers and partners face to face, or when coming to the office for in-person contact with your colleagues, seniors, or juniors, I would like you to by all means try to go beyond what is minimally required by having a little extra time at your disposal for dialogue and to cherish such opportunities. Doing so will surely bring you various insights and discoveries. In a with-COVID world, let us make this year "one of active dialogue and conversation."

The year 2022 will mark the start of Toyota Tsusho's next new stage. A year from now, I look forward to standing upon our higher stage and taking in the new vista with all of you.

I would like to conclude by wishing, as always, that this year will be a year of good health full of smiles and happiness for all of you and your families.

Thank you very much.