b'E X E C U T I V E I N T E R V I E WSCOA CEO Looks atthe Road Ahead aftera Challenging 2020 A through one of the greatest challenges in thes President and CEO of SCOA and GM for the Americas, Mark Nakajima led Sumitomo Corporation of Americascompanys history: the COVID-19 pandemic. We spoke withMr. Nakajima about his leadership, the changing workdynamic and his positive outlook for the Company as weapproach one year since the world turned upside down.President & CEO of SCOA and GM for the Americas What were the biggest challenges in leading the Mr. Nakajima (pictured) gives his New Years Address by Americas during the pandemic? WebEx for the first timeThe most important thing was to keep our people safe, to keep our colleagues always connected, and to make sure nobody feltSo you are saying that in the last year, becauseisolated. We needed to communicate regularly and frequentlyof COVID, we had the opportunity to streamlinewith our employees so they were aware of the changing situationour processes?and would keep motivated even under such difficult conditions.Exactly. We had a unique opportunity to look at our ongoing We began with difficulties when we suddenly could not go tobusinesses, procedures and processes to find out what is really our offices or visit our customers, clients, or business partnerssubstantial, important and necessary, and what is not.in person, but we gradually learned over the year to adapt. OurAs you said, the company took quick action to protect all biggest challenge was to keep our businesses viable withoutemployees when the pandemic started in March and to in-person meeting options. We needed to keep the operation ofmake sure that employee safety and well-being were the the company going as usual without interruption and without ma- top priority. As a result, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas jor problems, a difficult and challenging problem when we cannotwas able to sustain its operations through remote working, see each other in person or access our physical office space. that was a new concept at the time for many companies. Many say that because of COVID, the world has foreverNow, how do you view the change of remote working changed. What do you believe and what important changesand its impact on present and the future of our business took place in our company a result of the pandemic?operations? I believe that the world will not be the same as before, of course, but some changes may not have happened if not for this situ- continued next pageation. I believe the pandemic may have just expedited certain changes in a sense, functioning as a kind of filter to distinguish what is necessary and important from what is fundamentally un- 1 3necessary or unimportant. As a result, we needed to examine the necessity of all processes and operations, as well as re-examine the significance of our business projects. Going forward, we will continue to focus our resources on what is really necessary or beneficial, and this even includes exiting from long-term strategic businesses or projects. I believe the pandemic may have just expedited certain 2 BEFORE COVID:1 -Speaking to employees during the 0-1 Challenge businesschanges in a sense, functioning as a kind of filter to development competition2 -Mr. Nakajima (middle) with executives distinguish what is necessary and important from what isand Tomodachi scholars in thefundamentally unnecessary or unimportant.New York Headquarters3 -Leading through encouragement during Employee Appreciation WeekSumitomo Corporation of Americas 3'