New Year’s Greetings from President & CEO (Summary)

I would first like to wish all of you the very best as we begin the new year of 2018.

Safety as a Top Priority

Looking back to the last year, not only safety control but also the importance of quality control and ensuring were high lightened. A result of data falsification scandals could have tarnished Japan's reputation in manufacturing.
At the start of the year, I would like you to pay attention to details once again to ensure that confidence in the Company is not lost. Please also observe our policy of “placing safety as a top priority,” which we have made a cornerstone of all our activities.

Reflecting on 2017

For Mitsui Chemicals, 2017 was a milestone year in which we celebrated our 20th anniversary and started the 2025 Long Term Business Plan (LTBP). Blessed with following wind of the market, our performance in fiscal 2017 anticipates that operating income will reach a record high of 103 billion yen.
As the first year of the LTBP, we have made nice start. I believe that this is thanks to the even more proactive approach that each of you is taking with your work.

Increasing risks in the world

We need to pay close attention to rising geopolitical risks around the world, such as the increasingly tense situation in North Korea and more complex circumstances in the Middle East. Since we work in many parts of the world, it is important that we make ourselves as much as possible for risks by developing broad and acute sensitivity to our own safety and to the safety of those around us, as well as to business risks. This includes the risk of becoming involved in an unforeseen contingency such as an act of terrorism. Also in China, a big change for environmental regulations have begun to emerge along with growing interest in protecting the environment. While this is a procurement risk for the Company, which operates widely in China, I hope that we can take it as an opportunity to demonstrate strength of Japanese technologies, which are a step ahead in their environmental measures.

Showing our dignified presence

This year, we are expected to make further growth and achieve more results by many stakeholders as the second year of the LTBP. As I have always said, please challenge to do various things with a sense of speed by maintaining an attitude of making it happen not as an extension of the present state with a spirit of “Independence, Self-Support, Self-Motivation”. As we expand our business, the number of colleagues who work with us around the world will also increase. The Mitsui Chemicals Group always aspires to be a company that accepts diverse values and work styles and takes good care of people.
This year, let us aim to become a chemical group that is trusted around the world and shows its dignified presence by providing our products and services that help to solve social issues.