Sojitz’s Value Creation and Digital Transformation Initiatives

Digital Transformation Strategies for Creating New Value

Sojitz has defined its vision for 2030 as becoming a general trading company that constantly cultivates new businesses and human capital. Data and digital technologies will play an indispensable role toward realizing this vision. We therefore aim to increase our business value and create new value by making digital technologies a common skill in which all employees are proficient and utilizing these technologies to drive business portfolio reforms. This pursuit is one facet of our management strategies. I am confident that advancing such efforts will heighten our profits while also helping Sojitz contribute to a better society. There are two main focal points that I have adopted in advancing these strategies.

The first focal point is the acceleration of data usage and technology implementation in existing businesses for increasing value and creating new value. At Sojitz, the president himself chairs the DX Promotion Committee, and, in this capacity, he actively discusses how to apply digital technologies to our businesses together with the heads of business and functional divisions in order to achieve swift decision-making.

Utilizing digital technologies in the wide range of business areas we engage in as a general trading company will require us to act based on an understanding of market needs and the customers in each individual business area. One technology I can imagine us using is digital twin, which involves creating a digital copy of a physical environment based on data. There is no limit to the potential ways in which we can create value by installing this technology in various businesses. I also believe digital technologies have the power to form connections that facilitate the collaboration of value in a manner that exceeds the boundaries of business divisions.

The second focal point is the cultivation of DX-Experts. Leading up to 2021, Sojitz implemented entry, basic, and other digital technology education programs to help make digital technologies a common skill. We later judged that cultivation of employees with skills for practical application of digital technologies was a pressing task for developing co-creative businesses that utilize digital technologies together with internal and external partners. This decision led to our developing new digital technology education programs in July 2022. When surveying the Company to determine the appropriate curriculum for this program, I learned that the number of candidates for becoming DX-Experts who have acquired knowledge on digital technologies was much higher than I imagined. What’s more, these candidates could be found in various divisions throughout the Company. This discovery was most pleasing. This is because of how important it is to think about digital technology education from the perspective of both businesses and technologies. I asked some of these individuals to join me in developing our new education programs, and they were eager to lend a hand. With the new programs, we will accelerate the cultivation of employees with the skills needed for practical application of digital technologies to create value together with partners through the use of this common skill.

Sojitz is a company that takes on new challenges and continually transforms itself. My desire to become a member of Sojitz was sparked by my admiration of this trait. I did not want to simply hop on the digital transformation trend; I wanted to use digital transformation as a tool for shaping tomorrow. This is why I desired to join Sojitz and become a vessel of transformation. The ability to stand up to adversity is a powerful driver of transformation. I therefore hope to see Sojitz unite based on a passion to advance digital transformation strategies.