President’s New Year’s Address for 2026

Happy New Year.

Sojitz wishes all of its stakeholders a wonderful year ahead. Please find Sojitz Representative Director and President & CEO Kosuke Uemura’s 2026 address to Sojitz employees below.

It brings me great joy to welcome this new year together with all of you. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, we have been able to advance Medium-term Management Plan 2026 and steadily continue to reinforce Sojitz’s growth foundation. In 2026, which is the last fiscal year of the current plan, I hope we can finish laying the foundation for the Next Stage.

One of the major events of 2025 was the start of the second Trump administration in the U.S. The announcement of the retaliatory tariff significantly impacted global supply chains and demand-supply forecasting, and we saw economic uncertainty increase across many of Sojitz’s business segments. It is inevitable to be more uncertain over the situation in China, Russia, Middle-East region and East Asia region, upon the US incursion in Venezuela and capturing Maduro early this new year.

We are living in a world of constant flux. If we maintain the status quo even as the operating environment continues to change, we will lose our competitive advantage. As we wrap up Medium-term Management Plan 2026, we should take proactive action to remain ahead rather than simply reacting to change after the fact. It is important to demonstrate the determination required to become pioneers of change.

This year, we will fully leverage a culture of feedback as feedback represents a key pillar of communication required to accelerate individual development, organizational development, and practical business capabilities.

The essence of feedback boils down to anticipating the other party’s growth-related needs and providing insightful and constructive comments that will lead to improvement. At the same time, be open to receiving individual feedback yourself as part of a two-way exchange. By engaging in open and inclusive dialogue and mutual learning, our objective is to accelerate the growth of individuals, organizations, and practical business capabilities.

Be sure to listen carefully, take in valuable feedback, and use these insights to develop the habit of proactive thinking. In doing so, you will hone your abilities to be self-directed, flexibly course correct, and take decisive action. Repeating this process will create a positive cycle that leads to challenge initiatives and personal growth, which not only increases motivation and job satisfaction but also provides the drive to create sustainable growth for the organization.

This year, I would like to ask that you embrace a culture of feedback and implement feedback practices into your daily routine. Let us make 2026 a year in which we focus on effective and constructive feedback.

Your collective growth paves the way for Sojitz’s future.

I wish all our Sojitz Group members around the world and the families who support them good health in the new year.