Third-Party Opinion

Takeshi Mizuguchi

Professor, Faculty of Economics,Takasaki City University of Economics

Same as in the past year, ITOCHU listened to the voices of alarge number of external experts and also continued the factfinding investigations in the supply chain. Moreover, ITOCHU
revised its corporate credo, signed the Global Compact, started
the projects to commemorate the 150th anniversary andpursued other activities in this year - I think that this report
excellently communicates ITOCHU’s high aspiration. CSR is
important for any company, but I believe that particularly for ageneral trading company (Sogo Shosha) like ITOCHU, CSR has aspecial significance. The reason for this is that while the activities
of a general trading company are in many cases observed bysociety with the suspicion that the negative impact may be large,
there are also strong expectations that the functions of a general
trading company could potentially resolve various problems.
The difficulty in the CSR of general trading companies liesin the great diversity of the business fields they are engaged in.
As general trading companies handle any kind of product orservice in any place of the world, they are also possibly related
to any problem involving sustainability. One could even say that
there is no problem to which general trading companies are
not related, for example, the water problem, the food problem,
resource development, eco-system conservation, climate riskmeasures, chemical substances, economic development indeveloping and least-developed countries or the human rightsof the local people. Since the problems faced are completelydifferent in each business field, it is necessary to consider whatissues are most important in each business. In this sense, I
believe that it is an adequate method to pursue specific efforts
by establishing individual action plans for CSR activities in each
Division Company under the corporate-wide ITOCHU mission
and basic policies for CSR promotion.
Another issue is that the overall picture is difficult to grasp.
One reason for this is the wide range of products handled, butsince the power of influence has a different scope for each trade,
it is also difficult to establish boundaries regarding the questionof how far certain results can be attributed to the activities of theown company, or how far they are the own responsibility. Thereare probably many different
situations, ranging fromcases where the rights ofdecision are substantiallywith the seller or buyer, up
to cases like business investments where ITOCHU itself has great
power. However, even so, I think that it is important that we
grasp the overall picture for each problem area.
For example, I think that the program to restore tropicalrainforest in Borneo, which is one of the projects to commemorate the 150th anniversary, makes much sense, and theparticipation from employees is also wonderful. The report
also describes the management based on environmental risk
assessment by product. For this very reason, it is probably
necessary to show the overall picture of ITOCHU’s business
related to timber and forests to respond to the doubts of thereaders who think that while ITOCHU is planting forests, it may
also be cutting them down. I believe that especially for fields thatare easily suspected of having a negative impact, not just single
topics but the overall picture should reliably be grasped andexplained to achieve trust. Such fields include, for example, theimpact on developing countries and eco-system conservationin the development of resources, or topics related to biofuel andthe food problem.
Meanwhile, the power of creating businesses connecting manytechnologies, know-how and companies to resolve problems
is one of ITOCHU Corporation’s strengths. Such businesses
include, for example, the solar energy business or the PREORGANIC COTTON PROGRAM presented in the Highlights,
or the Water Forum revolving around the Machinery Company.
I admire the Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee beans, the“CHIKYUGI” business, the CDM business and every single otherbusiness presented in the Major CSR Initiatives. If talented staff of
ITOCHU with imagination and executive ability started to practice
ITOCHU’s CSR philosophy of “contributing to society throughbusiness activities” all over the world, there would be so much wecould realize. In this sense, I have high expectations in ITOCHU.

CSR Report 2009 Editing Taskforcel Textile Companyl Machinery Companyl ICT, Aerospace & Electronics Company
l Energy, Metals & Minerals Company
l Chemicals, Forest Products &General Merchandise Company
l Food Companyl Finance, Realty, Insurance &Logistics Services Company
l Corporate Planning & Administration Divisionl Affiliate Administration Division

Shoju Shinjo
Hiroaki Imanishi
Kyoko Hosotsuji
Hirofumi Chimura
Akio Mishima
Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto
Taku Kudo
Hideaki Fukuda
Shintaro Akagi
Takashi Suzuki
Makoto Hayakawa

l Corporate Communications Divisionl Investor Relations Departmentl International Operations Divisionl Risk Management Divisionl Human Resources Divisionl Legal Divisionl General Affairs Divisionl CSR Promotion Department, General Affairs Division

Naoki Yamanaka
Satoshi Watanabe
Shino Yamamoto
Hiroshi Tojo
Yasuhiro Okubo
Yoriko Ota
Terumi Nishiyama
Michiaki Takai
Akemi Sakuramoto
Kaori Amemiya
Hisa Sato
Hiroko Nakayama

ITOCHU Corporation CSR Report 200954