Visions - Summer 2007 - (Page 4)

continued SCL is very rich in mineral resources and they already enjoy business with the United States, and I expect Canada will be a good partner with Asian and European counties as well. I am sure that we will have a chance to help Canada to bridge its overseas business through our global network Japan and Canada have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for several years. This year, Ambassador Joseph Caron, Canada's ambassador to Japan, stated that the Canadian-Japanese economic relationship is "ready to move to a new level." Do you see SCOA playing a part in the continued growth of CanadianJapanese relations? One key area is the environment. There are many business opportunities relating to the environment, such as maintaining clean air and sourcing alternative energy. Two of our most recent acquisitions are Hartz and TBC, and we can gain inspiration from them to move ahead with other acquisitions. One key area is the environment. There are many business opportunities relating to the environment, such as maintaining clean air and sourcing alternative energy. We have to find new partners in technology, as well as new energy, like bio-ethanol, coal gasification, and nuclear power. These are new business opportunities, and we should be participants. And, of course, we must be innovative and think about more things. The potential is there, and the future is now. In addition to your duties as President & CEO of SCOA, you are also General Manager for SC Americas. What observations do you have of the various regions that fall under the SC Americas umbrella? Do you have any comments or observations you would like to make about SCMX, SCL or SCSA? Are there any specific business issues you intend to pursue in the region? Yes, I believe SCOA has such a role. A long time ago, I expected to see business expansion between Japan and Canada when I was in Tokyo. The problem at that time was infrastructure. Canada had concentrated so heavily on the U.S. as its major trade partner that it had not developed an infrastructure to support exports to Japan and Asia. Though Canada had lots of product to export to the Far East, the mechanism was not in place. Doing business with the United States was much easier. But now that Canada has built new facilities to strengthen trade and business with the Far East, mainly Japan and China, we will surely find a role for SCOA to cooperate with the development of Canada’s infrastructure. Canadian auto plants are some of the most productive in North America, but Mexican plants are quickly catching up to them. SCMX works with several auto plants in Mexico. How do you see Mexican auto production in the whole of the Sumitomo Americas business strategy? When I was GM of Mineral Resources and Energy in Tokyo, I had good contacts in South America for zinc, silver, and copper mining in Chile, Peru and Bolivia, as well as oil and gas trading with Brazil. Another area I am familiar with is Africa, with iron ore business in South Africa, nickel in Madagascar, and oil business in Nigeria. So, in that sense, I have good experience with these countries. As I get a deeper understanding of the scope of the Americas’ business activities, I realize that South America is a rich supply source as well as a promising market. We should go further to find business opportunities in Latin America. SCOA has good business support functions—well established and strong—and we should utilize them for business opportunities in the Americas. We can increase the communication between SCOA and other countries in the Americas. SCMX has great market potential here in the United States to supply or to trade with, therefore they have to find good manufacturing sources to supply various commodities to the U.S. market. Also, Mexico is growing. That means its infrastructure will need to be strengthened. We could find business opportunities and partners to help build up the infrastructure in Mexico. Things like import/export terminals, power plants, and other public facilities. 4 visions Summer 2007 The people of Mexico are very well educated and much of their manufacturing is becoming state-of-the-art and very successful. And, of course, one of their greatest assets is cost competitiveness. They can provide a well-educated and reasonably cheap work force, which will increase their competitiveness in auto manufacturing and other manufacturing as well. Therefore, our Mexico office is working hard now to ensure we develop and maintain a good position in manufacturing in Mexico and trading between Mexico and the United States, and other countries as well. Nowadays, China is exporting many, many products worldwide and increasing their market share rapidly, even in the USA, but Mexico can compete with China very easily if they adopt a carefully-planned growth policy. There is currently a lot of attention being paid to climate change issues and new business opportunities that are environmentally sound. What are your thoughts on the focus among large corporations to ensure that their business and operations are environmentally responsible? What kind of environmentally responsible business opportunities would you like to see SCOA leverage?

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Visions - Summer 2007

Contents Meet SCOA’s New President & CEO SCOA Delivers First APMs to Washington Dulles International Airport SC Minerals America to Mine Alaskan Gold Trade Show Marketing Stimulates SCOA Business Unique Machine Gets Dual Quality Certifications SCOA & HSSSI: Big Players in Next Phase of NASA Space Exploration

Visions - Summer 2007

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