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When disasters occur in Japan or overseas, Mitsui & Co. provides various forms of support to minimize the damage and contribute to the earliest possible recovery in the affected areas. Our support includes donations from the company and voluntary donations from our employees, as well as volunteering activities by our employees.

Emergency support

Disaster donation toward relief efforts (FY Mar/2020-FY Mar/2023)
Mozambique Floods (Feb. 2023) US$100,000
Earthquake in Southeastern Turkey (Feb. 2023) ¥10,000,000
Earthquake in West Java, Indonesia (Nov. 2022) IDR 200,000,000
Pakistan Floods (Oct. 2022) ¥1,000,000
Australia Floods (Mar. 2022) AU$100,000
Central Philippines Typhoon (January 2022) PHP50,000
Hurricane Ida (August 2021) US$45,000
Australia Floods (Mar. 2021) AU$50,000
Hurricane Laura (Aug. 2020) US$45,000
Australia bushfires (Jan. 2020) AU$200,000
Typhoon Hagibis (Oct. 2019) ¥10,000,000

Reconstruction Support

Initiatives Launched since the Kumamoto Earthquake to Support Local Communities

We have continuously engaged in disaster support activities based on local needs, ever since we first offered support for the recovery of regions devastated by the Kumamoto Earthquake in April 2016.

In June 2016, the Kyushu Office led the launch of disaster volunteer activities. With the cooperation of Mitsui & Co. group companies, our supporting network has expanded, and we have now entered the sixth year of such activities. During this period, Kyushu has been hit many times by flooding disasters caused by heavy rains.

Actually visiting the disaster-stricken areas in person to carry out volunteer activities has given the participating officers and employees a real sense of the importance of building closer relationships at the local level and providing continuous support.

We value every opportunity for employees to contribute to the local community and society. In addition, we have set local contribution as one of the priority areas of our social contribution activities, and we aim to continue to "enhance quality of life" in partnership with local communities.

Examples of main activities (FY Mar/2020-FY Mar/2023)
November 2022 In Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture, which was damaged by heavy rains in 2009, we removed soil and sand from agricultural canals.
November 2021 In Omuta City, Fukuoka Prefecture, which was damaged by heavy rains in 2020, we implemented a project to restore 70-year-old stonewalls and mowed the grass to improve the landscape.
November 2020 At Omuta City in Fukuoka Prefecture, which was damaged by flooding caused by heavy rains in July 2020, we filled around 1,700 sandbags as part of the flood defense.
November 2019 At Kinryumachi in Saga City, which was severely impacted by heavy rains in Northern Kyushu and Saga Prefecture, we helped dig out water channels and clear away accumulated dirt, etc.

Initiatives Launched since the Kumamoto Earthquake to Support Local Communities

Initiatives Launched since the Kumamoto Earthquake to Support Local Communities

Our reconstruction support activities, which began with emergency assistance after the disaster struck in March 2011, have gone through several phases, including relief supplies support, volunteer activities, provision of buildings using timber from company-owned forests, and promotion of business based on local needs.
Please refer to the link below for more information.

Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) Support

We have been providing support for the fight against novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection through our offices, affiliates, and foundations around the world. Support for those impacted by COVID-19 continues to be an important issue, and we promote support activities while respecting the judgment of each of our business sites based on the business environment and the needs of their region, whether overseas or in Japan.
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, we provided support for COVID-19 countermeasures in collaboration with our affiliates, and through the "Kono Iro" boxed lunch and meal delivery e-commerce initiative undertaken by the Retail Business Unit, we provided food-based support measures to domestic care workers at 173 facilities. Mitsui USA made donations to 12 food banks and other organizations in areas where Mitsui USA branch offices are located. In addition, in North America, Asia, and other regions, we provided a cumulative total of about 7 million yen in COVID-19-related support, mainly to medical professionals and NPOs.

Japan

We have made donations of both money and medical supplies to medical facilities and practitioners in the Kanto and Kansai regions and Hokkaido, all of which are doing so much to combat COVID-19. Furthermore, with the support and cooperation of our business partners and affiliates, we have also donated box lunches, drinks, snacks, and other goods.

When a state of emergency was declared in Japan, 170 volunteers came together at our employees' own initiative and procured face shields from our affiliate Fictiv Inc., with its support, and delivered those to the Tokyo Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health. Triggered by this activity many people started wondering if there was anything that they could do to contribute as individuals. In response to a growing call for such initiatives, an in-house crowdfunding site was launched as a place to connect the circle of support by volunteers. The site matches employees who have concrete support proposals with employees who want to make donations, and this has resulted in nine support activities. We have also promoted various efforts that leverage the ideas of Mitsui & Co. employees and its global network, such as holding online English classes for the children of medical practitioners.

Americas

In the US, we have provided support through our overseas trading subsidiaries and foundations. Mitsui USA participated in a project that provides free Japanese box lunches to frontline workers at medical facilities in New York City in collaboration with the Nippon Club and Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York. In addition, the Mitsui USA Foundation launched a total of US$100,000 (approximately 11 million yen)*1 in COVID-19 Community Relief Grants to support various frontline food banks, shelters and other non-profit organizations and funds that are providing relief to people and communities in vulnerable situations because of COVID-19.

In Brazil, through the Mitsui Bussan do Brasil Foundation, we cooperated with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Mitsui & Co. group company SuperVia to donate sanitary products to approximately 10,000 people in 2,345 households in low-income communities along the Rio de Janeiro railway.

In Argentina, Mitsui & Co. (Argentina) donated 700,000 Argentine pesos (approximately 1.1 million yen)*2 to the City of Buenos Aires out of consideration of the pandemic's impact on the domestic economy.

Europe

In Italy, Mitsui & Co. Italia made a contribution of 30,000 euros (approximately 3.6 million yen)*3 to the Italian Civil Protection Department in response to the spread of the pandemic.

Asia

In China, we donated masks, protective gear, etc. to prevent infections to our affiliates, customers, and others during the initial spread of infections.

As for India, Mitsui & Co. has invested and participated in OMC Power Private Limited, a company that supplies power to people living in unelectrified areas. Through the company, we donated 3,000 food packs to local people whose lives have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Calculated assuming the exchange rates below:
*1 Exchange rate of 105 yen to the US dollar.
*2 Exchange rate of 1.5 yen to the Argentine peso
*3 Exchange rate of 120 yen to the euro