Supporting the Ishigaki Island MarathonMarathon to be provided with Gogoro electric scooters via e-SHARE Ishigaki

Ishigaki City (Okinawa Prefecture; Mayor: Yoshitaka Nakayama) and Sumitomo Corporation (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer: Kuniharu Nakamura) are planning to offer a sharing service, via e-SHARE Ishigaki Co., Ltd a 100%subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation (hereinafter, “e-SHARE Ishigaki”), featuring electric scooters with swappable batteries manufactured by Gogoro (hereinafter, “Smartscooters”) as part of their efforts to promote Ishigaki Island as an “eco-island.” It was recently decided to provide 25 Smartscooters free of charge to the 16th Ishigaki Island Marathon (to be held on January 28) in advance of the launch of this sharing service.

Hosted by Ishigaki City and other locales, the Ishigaki Island Marathon is Japan’s southernmost full marathon and a major event bringing together several thousand runners and island residents for an exciting day. This year’s race will be the 16th, the first having been held in 2003. The Smartscooters will give race supervisors and medical personnel a means of mobility, allowing the organizers to be prepared for any emergencies among the runners as well as to operate an eco-friendly race.

Ishigaki City and Sumitomo Corporation are working to achieve Ishigaki City’s vision of developing the island in a sustained fashion through the creation of new value. The Smartscooter sharing service will help conserve Ishigaki’s world-class natural environment, while this public-private partnership will uncover and cultivate attractive tourism resources utilizing naturally-generated energy and cutting-edge technology.

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■Gogoro electric scooter with replaceable batteries next to a battery recharging station

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■Sumitomo Corporation’s Material Issues
Sumitomo Corporation Group positions “Six Material Issues to Achieve Sustainable Growth with Society” as an important factor in developing business strategies and in the decision-making process for individual businesses. Going forward, we will pursue sustainable growth by resolving these issues through our business activities. This Project especially contributes to “Achieving Harmony with the Global Environment” “the Development of Local Communities and Industries” and “Establishing a Foundation for Comfortable and Enriching Lifestyles”.