b'E X E C U T I V E I N T E R V I E W GM for SC South AmericaHolds MaPPS to the FutureW hen Nobuhiro Yoshida became General Manager for Sumitomo Corporation South America (SCSA) last year, as well as President of SC Brazil, he could not have foreseen the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.Executing the Business Units strategy is the first priority; in addition, Yoshida sees a clear road to success with strong teamwork and integrated corporate strength,using a project-based business strategy called MaPPS, which stands for Market-in,Above, Nobuhiro Yoshida, General Partners, Presence, and Supporters. We spoke with him to understand the past Manager of Sumitomo Corporation years challenges as well as his hopes and plans for Fiscal Year 2021 and beyond. South America and President ofSumitomo Corporation BrazilAs General Manager for Sumitomo Corporation South AmericaThough COVID made our business life very difficult in many since April 2020, what were the big challenges for you in theways, we were focused on rebuilding our team on any scale, short and long-term?at every level, and in any format, which has made our business My first major challenge was obviously COVID-19 that heavilyfoundation stronger than ever before. We increased ourimpacted our people and business over the last year. I appreciat- communications through online tools, and reset our SC South ed everybodys enormous efforts in maintaining safety measuresAmerica goals and strategy with input from colleagues through-against COVID, while continuing to run their high-quality operationsout the entire region and beyond. This inclusive collaboration as best they could. I know it was not easy for our office staff andresulted in a new growth strategy for our region: MaPPSespecially for our group companies, such as mining sites, manufac- Market-in, Partners, Presence, Supporters.turing and distribution facilities, that had to continue production withI believe this project-based working style will make us more maximum safety protocols. Thanks to everybodys great teamworkvaluable to potential partners and facilitate faster business and flexibility, we have managed through these difficulties and coulddevelopment, which will benefit in the short term, and raise our make growth a certainty, both quantitatively and qualitatively. I wouldorganizational capability in the long term. The key to success like to congratulate everyone on a job well done. is forming strong teams consisting of talented and diverse people. We are now tackling many projects by forming each project team beyond country borders and Business Units. As a SC Americas result, our success rate will increase if we carry out proper D&I current offices inand build strong teams of diverse talent. We will use MaPPS South Americastrategy, is our roadmap to business success.continued next pageB O G O TBUENOS AIRES RIO DE JANEIROL I M ASANTIAGOSO PA U L OGuyana Q U I T OVenezuela SurinameColombia French GuianaEcuador BoliviaPeru BrazilBolivia Sumitomo Corporation of Americas 3ParaguayChile UruguayArgentina'