● ●●Top Message

Delivering “sustained profitablegrowth” and contributing to thecreation of a sustainable society- The title of the recently published briefing
materials for the 2020 Mid-term Management
Plan was “Delivering Sustained ProfitableGrowth”. Would it be correct to regard themeaning of the word “sustained” here as
referring not only to the company’s results
but also to “sustainability” in the sense ofcreating the potential for the company toremain in business by meeting its social
responsibilities?
Yes, that’s correct. We have a responsibility
to continue pursuing robust business activities
and creating profits, not only so that we areable to contribute to our stakeholders, but alsoso that we can contribute to finding solutions
in our areas of expertise that contribute to thesustainability of the natural environment andsociety on a global scale and help to build abetter society. In order to achieve this, as part ofthe process of developing our business globally,in our day-to-day activities we adopt a global
approach to the challenge of contributing toincreasingly diverse stakeholders and to finding
solutions that will contribute to sustainability.

Mitsuyoshi Shibata
President
Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.

6FURUKAWA ELECTRIC GROUP SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2016

- The following three initiatives are set out inthe mid-term management plan as ways ofachieving this growth: “Strengthen and reformbusinesses”; “Expand sales in the globalmarket”; and “Step up efforts to tap intonew markets”. Which of these initiatives arerecognized as strong links with sustainability?
All of these initiatives have numerous services
and products that are related to sustainability interms of both the natural environment and society.
Let me tell you about some of the products fromeach of these initiatives. The “strengthen and reformbusinesses” initiative includes riser cables which
support offshore floating wind power generation aspart of smart infrastructure, and high-temperature
superconducting magnets which support
superconducting flywheel electricity storage systems.
“Expand sales in the global market” includes
active optical products which contribute to the IoT
through the smartification of telecommunications
infrastructure. “Step up efforts to tap into newmarkets” includes products such as aluminum
wire harnesses which contribute to reductions in
CO2 by reducing the weight of motor vehicles andincreasing fuel efficiency. We are contributing tocreating a sustainable society in our these and manyother production field especially in infrastructure,
automotive products & materials and functional
products by utilizing the material technologies that isa particular strength of Furukawa Electric.

- What areas have you strengthened as part of amanagement platform to support these initiatives?
In recent years, it has been said that prioritizing
ESG (Environment, Social, Gover nance)
contributes to the sustained growth of companies.
Could you please give us your opinion on this,including your perspective on ESG?
As a first step, we have strengthened corporate
governance, made ongoing improvements to theoperation of the board of directors, and practiced
governance in a way that balances offense anddefense. What’s more, employees across thegroup have disseminated the Group Philosophy
and acted in accordance with our shared values inorder foster human resources capable of meetingthe expectations and gaining the trust of society
and our customers. Since last year, all employees,
including myself, have started “Work Style Reform”
activities, which aim to achieve sustainable growth
for the company and more meaningful lives forindividual employees, by making autonomous efforts
to reform our working styles and using this as a wayof reforming our organizational culture. Furukawa
Electric’s Management Philosophy sets out thefollowing goal: “Nurture human resources at every
level, so that we can become a more diverse andcreative organization.” I believe it is essential that
we promote Group Global management in a waythat creates an environment and culture that allows
diverse human resources to flourish, and I havebeen focusing on diversity management for a longtime. We will be accelerating initiatives with definedquantitative targets, particularly in relation to thepromotion of women’s careers.

- Lastly, could you please give a message as
President to the readers of this report?
Furukawa Electric Group has set out the basic
behavior expected of our officers and employees in
the Furukawa Electric Group CSR Code of Conduct.
Our officers and employees are required to increase
their awareness of safety, quality and compliance,
and to put this into practice. This is because it is
the attitude of each and every employee in regard
to safety, quality and compliance that provides
the foundation for our business activities. Moving
forward, we will continue to monitor from a global
perspective the status of our organizational platform,including the implementation of our Code of Conduct,
to contribute to solutions to global problems throughour business activities, and to focus on our ability tocreate even more value for society. Lastly, I would
ask as many people as possible to read this reportin order to promote a greater understanding ofFurukawa Electric.
Thank you very much.

FURUKAWA ELECTRIC GROUP SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 20167