President’s Message to New Employees of 2025

I would like to congratulate all our new staff on joining Mitsui Chemicals. On behalf of the company, I offer a warm welcome to you all.

For the last few years, we have held the initiation ceremony online, due to the pandemic and other factors. This year, however, we have been able to bring together all our career-track staff at Head Office for the first time in six years. In addition, our general staff at each business site have assembled to participate via an online connection. I am very happy to be able to talk to all our new employees by leveraging the advantages of digital and analog alike.

I would like to take some time to talk about the changes currently going on in society, as well as what sort of role we at the Mitsui Chemicals Group should play.

Following the inauguration of the second Trump administration in the U.S. this past January, radical policy shifts have commenced in such areas as tariffs and security. Meanwhile, the global environment surrounding corporate management is changing day by day. Among the factors confronting us are ongoing uncertainties around China’s economic prospects, shifts in market dynamics due to oversupply, and the rising technological capabilities of emerging enterprises in other Asian countries. As such, the competition to survive and to win is intensifying.

Last year, we decided to push back the target fiscal year for our achievement of 200 billion yen in operating income before special items – a key milestone in our VISION 2030 Long-Term Business Plan – by three years. We must get ourselves back on a growth track as quickly as possible and regain the trust of our stakeholders. Fiscal 2025 will be a very important year for Mitsui Chemicals, as it marks the first fiscal year of our restart.

Mitsui Chemicals has change and innovation woven into its very DNA, which has been shaped by more than a century of history. Starting in 1912, the first generation of our company ventured into coal chemistry at Omuta, Kyushu, and the second broke new ground in Japan with its shift into the petrochemicals sector at Iwakuni-Ohtake. Both eras saw our company demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit as it took on the challenge of solving social issues. Now, we are entering another period of great change that should be described as our third generation: the age of green chemicals, in which we will aim to achieve carbon neutrality. The Mitsui Chemicals Group seeks to be a first mover as it works to help build a sustainable society.

While the restructuring of the petrochemical sector is the chemical industry’s biggest concern, basic chemical materials and material technologies will still provide the foundations for next-generation fields, such as semiconductors and electric vehicles. Mitsui Chemicals aims to further develop the lineage of technologies we have cultivated over our long history in order to succeed in an era of transformation.

Chemistry does not merely provide us with all sorts of materials that support Japan’s key industries, including social infrastructure, automobiles and semiconductors; it is also an industry capable of offering solutions to a wide range of issues in society. 

We will continue to unwaveringly push forward with our strategy and, guided by our motto “Chemistry for Sustainable World,” will aim to achieve VISION 2030 as a global solutions company that leads change and contributes to a sustainable future.

I hope everyone who has joined Mitsui Chemicals today will uphold the traditions of our DNA going forward, fearlessly taking on challenges in order to achieve growth. Here are my key messages to all of you who have taken this first step on your journey.

(1) Safety is our top priority

The first thing I want you to remember is that safety is our top priority. I would like for all of you to etch this into your minds, and to aim for zero accidents and incidents not only on the production floor but in all workplace environments. Further, as the health of all our employees is what lets us continue our business operations, I would like for each and every employee of the Mitsui Chemicals Group to be more aware of health management.

(2) Take the initiative, have a sense of autonomy and maintain a collaborative structure

The second is to take the initiative, have a sense of autonomy and maintain a collaborative structure. To increase the competitiveness of the Mitsui Chemicals Group and meet the expectations of all our stakeholders, it is vital for each and every employee not only to think for themselves and fulfill their duties, but also to combine the power of individuals to form an organization of comprehensive strength. As well as keeping your aspirations high and striving to improve yourself, please encourage the team members around you. Working at a company is, of course, an important means of making a living. But for the sake of your personal growth, I want you to take on new challenges – setting your own targets for what you want to achieve at the company or for what contributions you want to make and to whom. It is through such efforts that you will develop breadth as an individual and increase the stock of knowledge and experience on which you can draw, thereby boosting your personal value.

(3) Learning from tough challenges is what makes us competitive

The third thing I would like to highlight is that learning by way of tackling tough challenges – whether you succeed or fail at these challenges – is what fosters competitiveness. Learning does not stop once you leave formal education. What is more, schools have typically been a place with clear right and wrong answers – and while perhaps that is less true nowadays, I still want to stress to that in contrast, there is no single right answer in the workplace. Failure is an inevitable part of taking on challenges. I want you to learn from your failures, reflect on them and keep taking on those challenges time and again. What awaits you as a result of that process will undoubtedly be both your own growth and that of the organization. The Mitsui Chemicals Group has positioned “promoting the happiness and fulfillment of employees” as part of our Corporate Mission, and will continually provide you with places and opportunities for growth as you take on challenges.

To sum up, I would like you to keep health and safety as our top priority. As we work toward achieving VISION 2030, remember the entrepreneurial spirit that has been part of our company’s DNA since its formation. Refuse to be afraid of failure; instead, embody self-initiative, autonomy and collaboration as you continue to aim for lofty goals.

For a while after joining Mitsui Chemicals, some of you might be unsure about how to play your part in VISION 2030. In that situation, I want you to revisit the purpose and significance of your work in carrying out your job. Identifying how each individual job delivers value to customers and society, and what meaning it has for your own personal growth, is crucial to boosting your motivation. When more senior colleagues hand over a job to you, I want you to find fulfillment and interest in that work by devising creative approaches that suit your own personality. And the root of that fulfillment and interest lies in your particular reasons for joining Mitsui Chemicals. That is where you will find the will to pursue your future career – those feelings will serve as an important signpost for your career development, so I hope you will cherish them.

The flexible ideas and ways of thinking shown by you – young people who have grown up with the internet and digital devices from birth – will be crucial in the growth of the Mitsui Chemicals Group as we look to survive into the era of digital transformation. I firmly believe you are all assets to our business. And that is precisely why you should not feel hesitant about speaking up just because you are a new employee; please voice your own thoughts with pride. Keep taking on challenges and making discoveries every single day; it will allow you to develop outstanding insight, creative imagination and a powerful ability to get things done.

I have high hopes for your achievements, and I will be supporting you. Let’s work together to make it happen.