Throughout our history spanning over 400 years, we have inherited and upheld Sumitomo’s Business Philosophy. One of its core tenets, “Recognize human resources as the most important asset,” represents our unwavering belief that our people are the source of our competitiveness and the driving force behind our growth.This belief is also reflected in our Management Principles and Activity Guidelines. A retrospective view of our history reveals that talent discovery and development have consistently been regarded as matters of utmost importance in our management approach, regardless of the era.

This culture of valuing our people has been perpetuated as an integral part of the Group’s DNA. In 2020, we established the Global HR Management Policy, which represents our vision and philosophy regarding talent management on a global scale.

Based on this philosophy, and to more clearly express our belief that employees are our treasure, and our capital as the driving force behind our corporate value enhancement, we have decided to refer to our people as “human capital” (人財) rather than “human resources” (人材) in our Medium-Term Management Plan 2026 and beyond, except when using the general term. The Sumitomo Corporation Group, having engaged in global business development dealing with a diverse array of products and services, benefits from the contributions of talents with wide-ranging knowledge and experience. We believe that this diverse talent, by incorporating new perspectives and leveraging our historically established networks, will solve various social issues, thereby creating unprecedented added value. Consequently, this approach will enhance our group’s corporate value.