What are the most significant cases or transactions that you have been involved in over the past year?

 
Last year, we made several operational changes to accommodate the needs of business: 
– We combined the Legal Department into a single team to optimise efficiency and maximise expertise,
– Restructured the Intellectual Property Department and relocated its strategy function to the Holdings Corporation to strengthen the IP strategy,
– Established the Task Force to focus on the ‘Economic Security & Geopolitical risk’ and serve as an advisory to the management and the board.

Based on your experience, what is the key to collaborating successfully with business partners?

Understanding the business and its needs as well as strong communication is the key in gaining the trust of business partners. There is no easy way of doing this; it requires time, effort, and close collaboration.

Which political, economic or regulatory changes have impacted your work the most in the past year?

US sanctions against Russia and China have significantly increased the geopolitical risk of doing business globally. This increased tension between the countries has forced us to reconsider the Force Majeure provisions under our engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts in order to minimise the exposure in case of a conflict. We have strengthened our Export Control team and established the Geopolitical Task Force Team to monitor the situation.

What is a cause, business-related or otherwise, that you are passionate about, and why? 

Diversity. I believe that Japan still has a long way to go in achieving true diversity in its workforce.  From my experience, diversity among not only the workforce but also at the management level will make a huge difference in creating new values and ideas within an organisation. I would welcome any ideas that could have an impact in changing the mind-set of people.