P.45 Message from the CAO & CCO

45 02. Foundations for Accelerating Transformation

Message from CAO and CCO

Bringing Together the Strengths of Our Global Talent to Enhance Medium- to Long-Term Corporate Value

Our people: the driving force behind our growth strategy

We aim to achieve sustainable value creation by enabling each SBU to grow into a “No. 1 in Each Field” and contributing to the resolution of social issues. Our people are the greatest driving force behind realizing this goal. Their importance has become even greater as we advance our business portfolio transformation, execute our SBU strategies globally, and achieve significant growth under Medium-Term Management Plan 2026.

Enhancing our capabilities to address a changing business environment

The Group operates in a rapidly changing business environment shaped by rising geopolitical risks and technological advances, including generative AI. Accordingly, the social challenges we are expected to address are themselves evolving. Against this backdrop, the Group is working to optimize its business portfolio, and the roles and functions that each business provides are becoming more advanced. Meanwhile, the need for people with strong strategic execution capabilities has never been greater. Furthermore, the capabilities required are becoming increasingly diverse and sophisticated in both breadth and depth. These include the ability to envision businesses from a medium- to long-term perspective, lead business management by inspiring entire organizations, and drive continuous operational improvement and advancement. Even if investment decisions and strategies are sound, the value created depends on the capabilities of the people responsible for driving the business on the ground. We believe the key is not simply the size of the workforce, but how effectively the organization develops and secures the breadth and depth of the capabilities it needs.

Enhancing talent management globally

To secure these capabilities across our global SBUs, we must enable our people around the world to further develop their individual strengths. As an organization, we must also maximize the value of those diverse strengths and combine them effectively. To make our SBU structure truly effective̶one that manages everything from strategy formulation to execution and value creation on a globally integrated basis̶we are expanding our talent management framework beyond Sumitomo Corporation in Japan to a global basis that includes our overseas offices. Among the personnel systems and practices that vary across regions, we will progressively aim to harmonize those that hinder integrated global management, while increasing the visibility of each individualʼs capabilities, skills, and experience. Our aim is to strategically deploy the “best talent” on a global basis.

Aligning individuals and organizations to deliver sustainable growth

To further develop the strengths of each individual within our global SBUs, it is essential that our people continue growing with self-discipline and self-direction, guided by their own “WILL”̶ their personal aspirations. Sharing Sumitomoʼs Business Philosophy and the Groupʼs Management Principles as our common foundation, we align each individualʼs “WILL” with the Companyʼs aspiration embodied in our corporate message, “Enriching lives and the world.” This enables our people to approach their work with pride and a sense of purpose, set ambitious goals for themselves, embrace new challenges, and become “No. 1 in Each Field.” We will continue investing in the “five fundamentals of human capital” to strengthen employee engagement and foster a virtuous cycle in which the growth of each of our people drives the growth of the Groupʼs business, with the resulting achievements returned to our people as new opportunities for growth. Through this cycle, we aim to enhance corporate value over the medium to long term.

• Yasuhiro Yoshida Representative Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer, Chief Administration Officer and Chief Compliance Officer
• ROE Improve profitability (margin)
• Improve PBR Increase the expected growth rate
• PER Reduce the cost of capital Enhance shareholder returns