I was appointed as an outside director of SINANEN HOLDINGS in June 2023. Currently, the Board of Directors consists of 11 members, including four internal directors and seven outside directors. Each director has a high level of expertise and a wealth of knowledge, and our discussions are always open and active. It is clear to me that the business execution team values the board's discussions and opinions and makes efforts to apply them in their management. However, continuous efforts are needed to improve the board's effectiveness, and it will need to engage even more in discussions on key management issues going forward. To further evolve as an oversight body, the board must clarify its inherent roles, the form of its oversight, and the matters in which it should be involved. Moreover, we need to promote a culture embracing the sincere pursuit of board optimization. This includes close communication and information sharing with the business execution team to create a foundation of mutual trust.

One of the board's important functions is overseeing the appointment and compensation of the management team. As a company with an Audit/Supervisory Committee, the authority to make decisions regarding appointments and compensation resides with the board of directors. Discussions on these matters, including succession planning, take place within the Nomination and Compensation Committee, where I and other outside directors form the majority, and our recom- mendations are submitted to the board. We have drawn up a plan for CEO succession in particular, and have taken a leading role in its implementation. The plan includes the selection and development of successor candidates, and the allocation of sufficient time and resources for this process. The appointment of President Nakagome is a direct result of this planning.

The Group's mission involves "making people's lives more comfortable in every community by providing energy and home life services." To fulfill this mission, the Group needs to take another look at its strengths and decide how to best transform itself and adapt to changes in the business environment. This is a challenge that the entire SINANEN HOLDINGS Group must take on under the new leadership of President Nakagome.

While maintaining a relationship of trust with the business execution team, the Audit/Supervisory Committee will be more proactive than ever in providing its opinions and help establish an even higher level of corporate governance. To this end, we will not only monitor key management areas such as strategy execution, the operational status of organizations, and HR strat- egy, but will also provide more proactive advice on business challenges and risks identified through our audit activities, and offer advance warnings to facilitate sound risk-taking, all with an awareness of the need for proactive governance.

Along with serving clients as a certified public accountant, I have been involved in organizational management. Drawing on this experience, I aim to contribute to the Group's sustain- able growth by offering a broader management perspective that goes beyond the specializations of accounting, auditing, and internal control.

In June 2024, I was appointed as Director and Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) Responsible for the Corporate Planning, IT Strategy, and Operations Management Departments. Since 2020, I have been involved in internal auditing as head of the Audit Department at SINANEN HOLDINGS. I have worked to enhance the Group's value by assessing the effectiveness of our risk management, control, and governance processes based on international guide- lines. While I have seen significant improvements in compliance, there have been some unfortunate issues recently. In the past two years, risk management in new businesses outside Japan and the electric power business has not functioned effectively, which has led to poor performance. Now, as a director and a member of the new management team in charge of business strategy, I feel a strong sense of responsibility and am committed to improving our profit-generating capabilities and rebuilding our earnings base.

My role is to support the president and CEO in the area of management strategy, while helping make strategies more concrete. I must also enhance governance and internal con- trols, improve operational efficiency, and maximize the func- tions of the Group. I am also involved in overseeing the Group's overall risk management, with specific focuses on safety, quality, market risks, information security, tighter standards for investment by the Group, and ensuring thorough compliance. Additionally, I will work to further improve productivity and operational efficiency by leveraging IT systems.

As the director responsible for corporate planning, there are two major challenges that I must address. The first is to enhance management efficiency. I want to focus on improving the efficiency of Group management. This can be done by fostering greater collaboration among operating companies, while conducting frank discussions on business reorganization and the centralization of administrative departments.

The second challenge is to enhance our business execution capabilities. Thanks to the corporate culture reforms we accom- plished under the previous medium-term management plan, discussions within the Group have become more dynamic, and our internal culture has steadily changed. However, to fully realize our profit-generating capabilities, further reforms are necessary. To solve the issues we have identified so far, we must focus on execution. This means breaking down barriers between hierarchical levels and organizational units. We want to create a SINANEN HOLDINGS Group where all employees, particularly the younger ones, can think and act independently.

One of the Group's defining values is Shingi (keeping prom- ises), and a key strength is our frontline capabilities. In order to fulfill the Group's mission, which is to "make people's lives more comfortable in every community by providing energy and home life services," we place great importance on honesty and trust. By ensuring that the operational teams at our operating companies provide even better services to local customers, and with the head office offering support, we will bring all Group employees together to maximize our frontline capa- bilities. This will allow us to build a management system that earns the trust and meets the expectations of stakeholders.