Tatsuo Yasunaga, President and CEO of Mitsui & Co., Ltd., has been awarded the Order of Civil Merit by King Felipe VI of Spain. The award was bestowed by Jorge Toledo, Spanish ambassador to Japan, at a ceremony held at the residence of the Spanish ambassador on February 20, 2019.

The Order of Civil Merit is awarded to honor extraordinary service by Spanish and foreign citizens for the benefit of Spain.

President Yasunaga was given this award to honor the contributions Mitsui has made to Spain since opening its Madrid office in 1963, developing chemical, food, and steel products trading businesses, and more recently, promoting economic exchange between the two countries through an investments in Gestamp Automoción, one of the largest automotive parts manufacturers in the world, and GRI Renewable Industries, which manufacturers tower flanges for use in wind power generation. These contributions are highly valued and have played a central role in the development of friendly relations between Japan and Spain.

Mitsui will continue to work towards creating even deeper ties between Japan and Spain through exchanges between the two countries in a variety of fields including business, culture, science and technology, sports, and education.