Third-Party Opinion

Mariko Kawaguchi
General Manager of theManagement Strategy Departmentof Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd.
Graduated with a master’s degree from Hitotsubashi University
Graduate School in 1986. Joined Daiwa Securities in 1986.
Transferred to Daiwa Institute of Research in 1994. Had a numberof roles, including analyst, leading to her present assignment. Her
research subjects include socially responsible investment andcorporate social responsibility. Co-author of Guide to SociallyResponsible Investment and CSR Management . Part-Time Instructorat Aoyama Gakuin University.

This is my second opportunity to offer a third-party opinion.
Last year, I pointed out that the report seemed very much
like a CSR operational report for internal use. That is, thestakeholder’s perspective was not reflected in the report.
My impression this year is that the Company’s message has
been more sharply defined, making the report much easier tounderstand. Particularly with respect to the prevention of global
warming, this report offers a broad overview that includes
unique environmentally sound products, such as reflective
sheets with high light reflexivity, production site initiatives suchas fuel conversion and the concentration of processes, anddistribution site initiatives. It is thus far easier to understandexactly what the Company is doing.
Furthermore, the report describes how the Company
has traditionally used electricity from a company-ownedhydroelectric power station in the Nikko area, which accounts
for 14% of the electricity used by the entire Group. I learned
about this last year during my interview with Chief Social
Responsibility Officer Tetsuya Sato. Hydroelectric power
generation was not new to Furukawa Electric; the Company,
however, became more aware of how society is increasingly
paying attention today to the volume of CO2 emitted,
referred to as the carbon footprint, during manufacturing andtransportation. Therefore, production based on hydroelectric
power generation, which has an extremely light carbon
footprint, represents a major strength in sales strategy. From
this viewpoint, it was desirable from the perspective of CSR
as well as from sales strategy for the Company to reconfirm
the significance of hydroelectric power generation and toemphasize this point in the President’s Message. In a similar
light, the Company should be highly commended for its active
stance of considering the use of renewable energy sourcesin the production line apart from conventional hydroelectric
power. The report also states that the Company has developed

41 Furukawa Electric Group CSR Report 2009a system for incorporating the sales of environmentallyfriendly products and the reduction of CO2 emissions into theperformance assessment of each department to promote
environmental management. The best yardstick for measuring
the sincerity of a company’s environmental management is
to have it reflected in performance assessment. From thisviewpoint, we understand that Furukawa Electric is genuinely
pursuing environmental management, which creates afavorable impression. I encourage the Company to provide
status reports on this effort in the future.
This year’s report also contains a status report on the issueof dirty mining that I pointed out last year. While major progress
seems yet to be made, companies are expected to comeunder even greater scrutiny over dirty mining as biodiversity
becomes a focal issue second in importance to global
warming. I recommend that the Company continue its efforts
as an important aspect of supply chain management.
On personnel issues, the status of work-life balance—thenumber of paid leaves and childcare leaves taken byemployees—was disclosed in small print inside the chart.
However, the current trend is to disclose annual figures related
to personnel by chronology. I hope that data related to worklife balance will be disclosed on a multi-year basis, particularly
in view of the fact that the Company is a designated Providerof Support for Raising Next-Generation Children. I also expect
similar disclosures on the state of diversity, such as the ratio offemale executives and the status of locally hired employees atoverseas bases.
Finally, in this year’s message from the President, significant
weight has been placed on explaining initiatives related tocompliance violations. We naturally hope the Company will
establish an ethical framework based on this corporate stance.
On the other hand, we are facing a situation that urgently
requires calls for the development of a low-carbon society. I
would like to reiterate a point I made last year: copper wires
lie behind every product using electricity. That is, Furukawa
Electric acts as a stage assistant in the drive for electrification.
Bearing this in mind, I strongly request that the Company put
together a more comprehensive and organic long-term vision
concerning viewpoints from which the Furukawa ElectricGroup can contribute to the development of a low-carbon
society by utilizing all its management resources.