Hello.

I am Kazushi Shimizu, the recently appointed President and CEO of Sumitomo Riko Company Limited.

We are facing a difficult business environment, and in order to overcome this storm with all the employees in our group, I decided to set up a blog, as one of the tools to share information.

Also, by disclosing company policies, internal events, and occasionally even my own personal stories, I hope to make our stakeholders feel more familiar with the company.

On June 18, the 132nd Annual General Meeting of Shareholders was held at the Hilton Nagoya .　Although the state of emergency due to the new coronavirus had been lifted, we coordinated so that the hall was widened to allow wider space between the seats to prevent infection.

We expected that the number of shareholders present would drop down to half from last year's approximately 200. However, the number of attendees was 160, which was higher than expected, down only 20% from last year.

Though the general meeting this year was rather short, careful and polite responses were required. In the Q and A session, there were questions such as “ How do you predict the new coronavirus will impact the FY 2020 business performance? ”, “How is the enthusiasm of the new board members? “, and president & CEO, Mr. Matsui (currently the Chairperson of the Board) and other board members answered those questions.

We are careful to give friendly answers at shareholders' meetings, but I feel that our answers are inevitably formal. Nowadays, communication tools and technology are highly diversified, and therefore, I feel that we have to create new ways to have stakeholders understand us better by flexibly reviewing the traditional methods of communication carefully considering their costs and benefits.

At the Board of Directors meeting following the shareholders' meeting, I was selected as President & CEO.

I would like to respond flexibly to each and every one of our operations in step with the changes of the times.

I will continue to perform my duties for our shareholders, customers, and employees with the spirit of "Banji-nissei". I look forward to working with you at Sumitomo Riko.

Banji-nissei means “do your sincere best, not only in business, but also in every aspect of life. ”Originating from the preamble of Monjuin Shiigaki, it speaks of the importance of sincerity in all human endeavors.

2020.06