Management

August 2009
Strengthen Our Foundations and Grasp New Business Opportunities

Several months into the current fiscal year, we can now see some response to the various measures enacted by governments and central banks all around the world to counter the world economic downturn. Demand from developing countries has revived, led by China, and this has enabled us to avoid a catastrophic crisis.
Fortunately, the Australian economy is also showing signs of improvement, with the four major banks in a relatively healthy state, and exports picking up.
Nevertheless, a real recovery still looks a long way off, and we will continue to experience severe economic conditions for some time yet.

In these business conditions, it is absolutely essential that first and foremost, we, ITOCHU Australia, strengthen our business footing. We must return to the foundations of our business, which we have probably tended to overlook, during the continuously booming economic environment of recent years, and we must find our origins anew, and secure our business foundations.

In addition, in order to pursue growth strategies for the future, we must continue to grasp new business opportunities.

ITOCHU Australia has always worked hard to realise new investment and trade in a wide variety of areas, such as resources development, forestry and food, and now we have made a number of significant investments in coal, energy, foodstuffs, machinery, and other business.

The Australian Government has made the environment one of its most important policy areas, and we intend to vigorously pursue business opportunities in this area in the future.

From the standpoint of all of ITOCHU worldwide, the profit generated by our business operations in the Oceania region, centred on Australia’s iron ore and coal resources, is very important, because it will comprise over 40% of overseas consolidated after-tax profit, according to this year’s plan. The Oceania bloc makes a vital contribution to the total consolidated results of ITOCHU Corporation.

In the era of rapidly globalising business, we also recognize the increasing importance of the training and development of the staff on whom ITOCHU Australia depends.
Adopting a world-wide view of staff development, ITOCHU Corporation is promoting its GTEC (Global Talent Enhancement Centres) strategy, and plans to introduce this into the Oceania bloc too, centred on ITOCHU Australia.

As we work to maintain the continuous growth of our Australian operations, it is essential that we try to exist in perfect harmony with the society around us, in the framework of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The founder of ITOCHU Corporation lived by the precept “Three-way Benefits” (“Sampo Yoshi”), which means “Good for the seller, Good for the buyer, and Good for the society”, and in line with the spirit of this philosophy, we are increasing our contributory activities in the Australian community.

Not only the Australian and Japanese economies, but the general world economy is showing signs of recovery, and although conditions remain severe, the business environment is slowly allowing us to feel some optimism.
We too will gradually strengthen our foundations, and steadily create new initiatives for the future.

Tatsuo Fujino
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer,

ITOCHU Australia Ltd.