Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (8031) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you very much for your attendance at the Mitsui Investor Day 2021. I will be serving you as the MC. My name is Masaya Inamuro from the Mitsui & Company IR division. For today, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the presentations will be conducted online via the Internet. We realize that this is an inconvenience for all of you, but we seek your support in the prevention of the spread of COVID-19. This year, after each presentation, we have allocated a Q&A session. We will commence the Q&A session via telephone conference call. For those who have pre-applied, please use the prenotified connection. [Foreign Language] We have also via e-mail issued a URL, which will allow you to fill in a questionnaire. We would like to use your feedback for future Investor Day events. So we encourage you to fill in the questionnaire. Let us now begin the program. At the podium, we have President and CEO, Kenichi Hori; Representative Director, Executive Vice President, Takakazu Uchida, CFO. Now I would like to invite Hori to give opening remarks and management policy presentation.

Good afternoon. I'm Kenichi Hori, President and CEO of Mitsui & Company. Thank you for joining us today for Mitsui's Investor Day 2021 even during your busy schedule. We are completely holding the event online this year due to declaration and extension of the state of emergency in some parts of Japan, and moreover, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As in previous years, the aim of this event is for our shareholders to gain a deeper understanding of our management approach and path to sustainable growth. Under the business environment witnessing substantial change throughout the year, we achieved strong operating results for the fiscal year ended March 2021 above our forecast with profit of JPY 335.5 billion and core operating cash flow of JPY 658.1 billion. This was a result of our efforts to strengthen downward resilience by thorough cost reduction at every domain and restructuring of our business portfolio, profit contribution from the stable supply of resources, materials and services essential for daily life, and outcome of our initiatives amid the economic recovery in some business industries and regions that occurred in the second half of the fiscal year. We believe that we were able to demonstrate the strength inherent to the resilience of our business. In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, we will further strengthen our earnings base, implement various growth strategies and continue to steadily capture the recovery of the global economy by making maximum use of the strength of our global business base. As a result, we aim to achieve the quantitative targets of the medium-term management plan 2023 one year ahead of plan by targeting core operating cash flow of JPY 680 billion and profit for the year of JPY 460 billion, while also aiming for even greater heights. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought major changes, not only in the business environment for Mitsui, but also in terms of the acceleration of digitization, diversification of consumer behavior and significant changes in people's perspective about values, such as improved awareness towards a global environment. Since it is time of turbulence, it gives us additional reasons to continue to transform our business portfolio in response to the needs of the time. So even in adverse events in these society by providing grand solutions to complex issues around the world, then we will fairly disclose results from the above efforts to our stakeholders. I will now speak a little more about the transformation of our business portfolio. As shared during last year's Investor Day, we have been taking initiatives to increase earning capacities of our existing businesses by strengthening our business management capabilities and thorough investment discipline. In addition, we implemented business revaluation of our operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, while focusing on Mineral & Metal Resources segment, Energy segment and Machinery & Infrastructure segment, as well as a restructuring of our business portfolio with future perspectives, strengthened downward resistance and promoted appropriate reallocation of resources. In addition, we took initiatives to restructure and reorganize existing business groups to strengthen our earnings base to accelerate our transformation. Global trends, such as the acceleration of ESG and the shift in power towards consumer demand us to further accelerate transformation. In addition to strengthening the competitiveness of our resources and energy businesses and restructuring our portfolio, we have been developing consumer-centric businesses. And as a result, we are steadily improving profitability and creating new businesses in fields such as Healthcare, Retail, Mobility and ICT. While Mitsui has accumulated assets through past investments, it is true that some businesses have not been generating sufficient returns on invested capital, ROIC. By introducing ROIC as an internal management indicator, we have further increased the awareness of the capital efficiency to each business unit. Now we are working together to enable ourselves to visualize stutters of each part of the business, analyze issues and strictly implement countermeasures to address them, while raising performance in infrastructure, mobility, chemicals, lifestyle innovation and corporate development. We will continue to promote company-wide measures to improve ROIC and ensure that there is due recognition about the importance of such measures with Mitsui. I'm convinced that in the post COVID-19 world, we'll find growth opportunities in the peripheral of our strong existing businesses, establishing a strong presence in our business domains and building a business base for the future, both of which are important, will lead us to improve the profitability of our existing businesses and achieve further growth. We'll first reinforce our existing core businesses, which we have in each business domain. Then we will leverage these to create multiple business clusters capable of demonstrating combined value by organically linking peripheral businesses aligned by cross-industry teams. By securing high-quality business clusters across industries, we would transform and grow our portfolio. Our goal is not simply to improve profits at industrial -- individual businesses, but further -- to further create value by creating and expanding business clusters of scale and ensuring collaboration between these clusters, we will realize strong growth by continuously creating and capturing business opportunities, those of which it would not be possible for other companies to create, and by committing ourselves to both transforming our business portfolio and cultivating new business domains that make full use of it. In addition, as we restructure our portfolio through this process, we are aiming to realize capital gains. As a result from these restructuring and we'll show our achievement with stakeholders in due course of time. We will discuss our efforts in each business domain based on the strategy in the presentations hereafter. There are 3 business areas that we will focus on as a means to realize strong future growth and demonstrate our comprehensive strengths: Energy Solutions, Healthcare/Nutrition and Market Asia. These 3 business areas comprise the strategic focus of our MTMP 2023. The COOs of the relevant business unit will explain the details of each growth strategy and its progress later on, but for now, I'd like to briefly say a few words. First, Energy Solutions. As efforts toward decarbonization intensifies globally and as an active player within the energy industry, we will work to generate steady profits through producing and supplying competitive LNG and promote our unique energy transition by leveraging these existing businesses and customer bases. Specifically, we'll make modern facility efforts to establish the hydrogen, ammonia and next-generation biofuel businesses by utilizing the relationship with gas-producing countries and customers and our businesses of materials industry. We also pursue combined value with new downstream, which combines electricity trading, battery solutions and energy management as well as through geothermal and CCS initiatives that leverage our E&P expertise. Through such initiatives and through our efforts to play a leading role in the shift toward cleaner energy, we expect to create a strong new business foundation while providing grand solutions for global challenges. Next, Healthcare and Nutrition. Our flagship Healthcare platform in Asia, together with our global businesses in the areas of diagnostics, life science and nutrition will become a key interface with the health conscious consumers determined to enhance their quality of life. We're determined to provide value-adding services from our network's healthcare database for that purpose. By promoting our company-wide initiative, Wellness of Mitsui, which involves our Wellness, Nutrition & Agriculture and ICT business units, we will contribute to the formation and expansion of business clusters within the Wellness field and make it one of our major engines of the growth for us in the future. As a result, we will be establishing a large-scale earnings base and generating our cash flow, while steadily increasing our profits as well as restructuring of our portfolio. Finally, Market Asia. We believe that it is extremely important to target the Asian consumer market, where the population is expanding and where rich middle-class is on the rise. As I explained during the meeting of our financial results briefing in May, we agreed to subscribe convertible bonds amounting to JPY 100 billion issued by CT Corp Group, which supports Indonesian consumers in multiple areas, including finance, media, retail and property. By utilizing CT Corp's strong existing business foundation, we will capitalize on the growing Asian consumer market, while taking initiatives for digitalization and work together to improve both companies' corporate value while aiming for future public listings. At the same time, we are also considering a joint business development project involving Mitsui, CT Corp and third parties, while maintaining multiple avenues for realizing such growth, we will strive to achieve liquidity and to secure profits on a grand scale. To do so, we have decided to bring in an Executive Officer as a full-time CT Corp Director, while also dispatching a cross-departmental team at the same time. Since our establishment, we have endeavored through our business to solve social issues that change with the times, and we're proud to have achieved growth as a result. Our current mission is to build a brighter future everywhere that we reaffirm that we will continue working towards the creation of a truly bright one. Accordingly, we will work to live up to the responsibilities that are a requirement of a company that operates a wide range of businesses throughout the globe. Especially, we will continue to actively address the issue of climate change. To achieve the greenhouse gas reduction targets announced in 2020, we are aiming to build a business portfolio that contributes to decarbonization and the reduction of global GHG emissions through our businesses, while ensuring economic efficiency. We will also work to reduce our own emissions. We are promoting initiatives to have our GHG impact by 2030, which includes restructuring of our portfolio in a manner that addresses the generation of coal-fired power. We will accelerate each initiative while preponing timeline. We are also planning to hold an ESG Day in December, at which point, we'd like to share our progress as well as other ESG initiatives being undertaken by the company. In addition, in today's second session, we will hear from the COOs of both the Mineral & Metal Resources and Energy business units, who will share their analysis on the impact of ESG on our business portfolio, especially in relation to climate change as well as what sort of measures we will take to sufficiently address such issues and what sort of path we will take to generate further cash flow. Next, I would like to talk about cash flow allocation. Our efforts to strengthen our business management capabilities and competitiveness have borne some fruit and our baseline to generate cash flow has improved. So we have decided to increase the dividend per share and raise the minimum dividend level. We also announced the implementation of a share buyback program of up to JPY 50 billion. Our approach to shareholder returns is to pay dividends based on the level of stable core operating cash flow that we can generate, while flexibly allocating any significant upside from large commodity price increase to growth investments, and share buybacks as appropriate, taking into account nature of the upside, the outlook for cash flow allocation and the stock price level. Based on the aforesaid approach, we are thinking to increase the ratio of total shareholder returns as a percentage of core operating cash flow up to around 33% during the period of the current MTMP 2023 compared to the 3-year average of 28% in the previous midterm management plan. And in consideration of capital efficiency, we will also focus on per share-based indicators, such as cash generation per share. We have reviewed our cash flow allocation for the 3 years to March 2023, taking into account the current situation and showing an update on progress. Our capacity to generate cash is increasing, even during COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the overall quality of our portfolio is improving, thanks to a revaluation of Mineral & Metal Resources and Energy, along with through thorough measures to enhance cost competitiveness. As a result, management allocation is expanding due to an increase in core operating cash flow, and we will continue to strive with growth and shareholders' return from here on as well. Lastly, I would like to talk about our human resource strategy. In order to be a company that can elevate our presence as a first-rate global company, develop robust businesses and show leadership in its contribution to society, we need to constantly nurture ourselves. One thing I have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is that regardless of whether in Japan or abroad, it is vital to have a strong layer of managers who can make independent and decisive judgments and take appropriate action, even when our activities are restricted. I'm convinced that people grow through the accumulation of experiences, experiences in which they've had to refine their own capacities to act and judge situations, take the initiative, while moving the business forward and putting these experiences into practice. We are engaged in fields all over the world that allow us to accumulate such experiences, and we will develop independent thinkers within the entire global Mitsui Group, so that we may further elevate the level of our human resources. We will make sure that our work becomes meaningful only when it leads to real values created to our customers, partners and other stakeholders. And this is how our institution is ultimately compensated. With such a goal in mind, we will aim to appropriately evaluate the results and the contributions of all our members through a thorough implementation of a pay-for-performance system. Further in respect of our value adds, thrive on diversity, it is extremely important that Mitsui team members come from diverse backgrounds, so the teams can create value in new businesses. I believe that diversity will show high resilience in times of troubles because the collective base of insight and experiences will be more abundant. As a global group seeking to promote diversity, we will accelerate our talent management, career development support efforts and offering of new career paths for highly skilled individuals. It is through such efforts and embodying both the power of diversity and the challengers' and innovators' spirit, which is part of our corporate DNA that we as a unified entire Mitsui Group can demonstrate for realizing the strategies and initiatives I have explained thus far. Although the current economic situation varies by country and region in terms of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the likelihood of structural changes in the supply chain due to geopolitical risks, but at the same time, we are taking COVID-19 as an opportunity. Nevertheless, in order to further raise our corporate value in the medium, long-term and to enhance our global presence, we will continue to pursue, transform and grow, as set forth in the MTMP 2023 and steadily implement our strategies. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Now, we'd like to start the Q&A session with the 2 speakers. [Operator Instructions] Now we'd like to begin the Q&A session. We'd like to take the first question.

I have one question I'd like to ask. As Mr. Hori just explained, the changes in the portfolio and decarbonization was mentioned. Your weight on resources are quite big. Therefore, that will be a focus on the long term. But looking to the future, what is the portfolio going to be? You talked about Energy and focus will be hydrogen and ammonia going forward. But in 10 years, 15 years or 20 years' time, the portfolio that we are going to aim for, what is the vision for the portfolio? And what is the direction that you are moving towards? And what are the discussions you have internally? And I believe in each of the sessions to follow, examinations will be given, but I'm sure there will be challenges that is moving forward, that is stagnant. But if you could explain the stutters that you're seeing at the moment, it will be appreciated.

Yes, thank you very much for your questions. So looking to 10 to 15 years ahead, I want to talk about the portfolio that we envision for ourselves. When we talk about energy transition, we believe that is going to play a very important role. For Mitsui Energy business, this has very strong cash-generating power. LNG portfolio, which is our focus, is going to be the leader of the transition, and we believe this is a core business during the transition. But with LNG as the access, we want to accumulate the businesses post-transition. And LNG, I believe, the weight is going to lessen over the years. But the long-term vision is that we are going to see more new energy businesses that is going to contribute to profit in the future. So wisdom -- the technological wisdom and partnership and network and also relationship with energy countries, these needs to be utilized in a clever manner so that we can aim for that portfolio going forward. The Energy business has shown profitability capability as we're going to look for plus alpha. And as I mentioned before, Energy Solutions business unit is going to be a new business unit, taking on this challenge. And we believe that there will be a momentum in building up a team, and we believe this is going to be a pillar for our business going forward. And of course, we need to work on improving the health of the people, treatment to lifestyle, nutrition to food. So from prevention to treatment, that is wellness area that we are going to focus on, and this is going to be a growth engine for ourselves, one of our core businesses. And as I mentioned earlier, this is going to be a very important part of the portfolio for the future. And one other strategic focus is a regional strategy to the growing consumer market with a partnership, we would like to see fruition, and that is something that we would work on. With regional strategy, we believe this is going to be a very important pillar. So recently, we have Mobility, Chemicals, Infrastructure, and NASA-related businesses. And of course, we are going to see horizontal development of next-generation businesses, ICT. And with digital know-how, we would like to improve the function of the businesses, so that we can strengthen the profit base. That is the vision that we foresee for ourselves. With those we'd like to grow our business and company further and answer to your expectations. And you asked about some of the issues or challenges that we are seeing. We need to introduce new technologies in order to go forward. Energy transition, for example, with hydrogen, we need to have composite technologies combined together to be competitive. And that is something that we would like to coordinate going forward. So maybe it's not an issue, but that's a premise that we need in order to move ahead. And healthcare included, we need to have a data-driven management, so digital enhanced personnel, people who are good with digital needs to be taken in, so that the business model can be newly established. This is a very difficult hurdle, but we need to have a partnership and also in-house human resource development. And we are going to have horizontal development. And sometimes we need to be very proactive, so that capability can be enhanced. We need to take on the issues. And if we overcome them, we believe that there will be fruition, and that is a landscape that we are saying -- seeing. So that is what we are aiming for. Thank you very much for your question.

Thank you very much. Does that answer your question?

Yes, thank you very much.

We'd like to move on to the next question.

I have 2 questions I would like to ask. The first question, about greenhouse gases, about the emission. Towards 2030, 50% reduction, I believe, is your target. So what is the direction going forward? How are you going to move ahead? 2030, you need to have more specific measures in order to reach the goal. What about coal management going forward? That is my first question. And the second question, regarding energy. Your energy interest, LNG, and also you have upstream oil. When it comes to LNG, as you explained earlier, I think that is what you're going to proceed with. But what about the upstream crude oil interest? How is it going to change towards 2030?

Thank you very much for your question. To answer your first question, 2030, the GHG impact will be reduced by 50%, and I believe that is very important. And we need to be able to achieve that in the interim. And that is a strong determination of Mitsui. And in order to go -- move ahead, what is important and necessary is that coal-fired power generation asset needs to be changed. We believe that is going to be very important, and replacement needs to advance. For that means, the emissions from the operations that we have needs to be reduced. And there are a number of operational measures that we can conduct, and we need to do it with discipline. And at the bottom of the page, you can see the GHG emissions. You can see opportunities and also transition. Each one of the projects will be taken diligently, so that we'll be able to achieve the goals, but most important is portfolio replacement. Coal-fired generation, C center, as I mentioned earlier, with replacement, we'd like to accelerate the pace, and that is something that we are working on. We are going to do tapping and also holding negotiations. And for individual projects, we need to work on the status. And whenever we see any results, we will disclose the information. With regard to portfolio reshuffling, you have to ensure economic viability while we're doing so. We've been in this business for many years and various approaches and perspectives are in the players. And we do know that they are those players, and we have to be able to make this charge that there is economic viability and those are the transactions that we are pursuing. And by -- with regard to 2030, we'd like to accelerate the timeline in order to achieve the goal. And as to the second question, the upstream crude oil equity that we have. There are several equities that we have in upstream equity assets -- crude oil assets, and depletion is faster than gas for crude oil, generally speaking. But they are competitive assets, and in some cases, this could be a target of portfolio reshuffling. But we have to make sure that this won't be -- become stranded assets. And you have to make sure that there will be transactions that will make sense economically. And if there are any such transactions, we'll have to capture them. And maintaining reserves is not our policy as we are engaged in this. So we are being quite realistic in operating the assets. Did that answer your question?

Thank you. And based on what you answered, there is a follow-up question. As President Hori said going forward, new technologies will be required. And in order to have the impact of GHG, I think the second biggest factor is the reduction of GHG emissions of the business assets. And by 2030, you have to make -- are you seeing that the reduction will be at a certain scale?

Well, efficient operation of power generation assets and operational efficiency, if we can improve that, then there will be a certain level of effect that we can see. And there is a mixed burning of energy or fuels, like you can mix ammonia in the fuel to be burned. And we will introduce those technologies to produce tangible results.

Thank you very much for your detailed answer.

Thank you. Next question? Next question, please.

Thank you very much for the presentation today. There are 2 questions. Firstly, I may have misheard this, but as Mr. Hori said, in the return -- shareholder return policy, the total return ratio based -- versus the core operating cash flow is targeted at 33% for this fiscal year. Are you talking about year ending March 2022, or are you talking about the average of the 3 years? In other words, 35% for March 2022, if you calculate back to March 2022, if this is an average figure. And secondly, I'd like to ask about the reinforcement business base. And the biggest challenge is how to restructure the profitable or yield profitable assets. And as for ROA in Lifestyle, if you look at the base profitability, ROA has been less than 1% for Lifestyle. And so, for those businesses with low profitability, in what time axis are you going to restructure them? And, again, do you see that the reality will catch up?

Thank you very much for the questions. First, on the first question. In the last fiscal year or the previous medium-term management plan and currently ongoing medium-term management plan, the -- based on the core operating cash flow for the whole period, how much we can return to the shareholders, that's what we're talking about. In the previous MTMP, it was 28% on the average. And if you look at -- compare the 3-year periods, and we've obviously improved the average for this current medium-term management plan. And at the outset of this medium-term management plan, this is a plan that we have shared with you. And around 33% has become the specific goal at this point. So to answer your question, this is 33% for the whole period of 3 years. And in what is going to happen in year 2 and year 3, you have to look at capital allocation opportunities and share prices and other business environment factors, and we like to keep having dialogues and make decisions as a company. So you have to compare the 3-year periods of the medium-term management plan and look at the shareholder -- total shareholder return versus the core operating cash flow. That's what I meant by that number. Did that answer your question?

Yes. So compared to the previous medium-term management plan, the 3-year average would be 33%, which will be a 5 point -- percentage point improvement. That is your goal?

Yes, that is the target. Of course, there are very -- many variables, as you know. So we have to take those into consideration. But with this as a policy, we'd like to move forward at this moment. And to answer your second question, as I said, the return on assets may be -- may have been a bit low. If you look at the track records, and we would do some restructuring, we talked about Lifestyle business, but especially in Healthcare, the post-COVID-19 recovery is already in sight. And for IHH, for January through March, I think good performance has been announced, and we are slightly ahead of the plan. And so in this way, in the Healthcare business, we are now at the stage of reaping the return or we have the base of profitability for recurring revenue. And food distribution and fashion, in those areas, the return on total assets is important. Especially the working -- including working capital, we have to -- we have increased our awareness on ROIC, including working capital for the recent years. And with the specific measures, of course, you have to build up many minute numbers, but this is what we do. And especially the raw materials for the Food, the market prices have been stable or have been slightly strong. And in the Retail business, as there are grand consumer trends, so if you can combine digital marketing and e-commerce and combine online/off-line approaches, you can have lighter assets to improve ROIC, and that's what we have been doing. And in this way, for the whole assets of Lifestyle business, we like to improve the return as a whole.

Thank you. That's very clear.

Next question, please.

Thank you very much for the presentation. I have also 2 questions. Firstly, ROIC and return on investments, if you look at those, in what time frame, how do you evaluate the returns? At the outset, you talked about Indonesia. And also, you just explained about health care, IHH. And in those areas, in different businesses, do you have different timeframes to make judgment for different businesses? And if you decide to withdraw from some businesses, what would be the background or reason for that? And in the -- for the past few years, they are not that high in returns, so do you evaluate the businesses internally just as we see them externally, or do you have different timeframes to make judgment? And as for the second question, for the total return policy, you would like to improve the return to shareholders for the whole period or give more allocation to shareholder returns for the 3-year period of the current medium-term management plan. In order to realize this, you can narrow down investments and then reap the returns. If you're confident that you can make returns or you are going to improve their returns because of the lessons that you've learned from the lower returns from the past, which one do you think is to.

Thank you for the question. So ROIC or ROIC, inclusive of ROIC that is, what is the timeframe in terms of our profitability, I believe, is the question that was raised. So depending on the project, there are times when we have to extend the timeframe to execute or implement our strategy. So timeframe or timeline-wise, we look at each and every project differently. For instance, you mentioned Asia and CT Corp in Asia as well. For the time being, we will hold convertible bonds, so it will be coupons. And so risk return approach will be different. And when this converts to equity, then at that timing, it will be a different stage. And at the same time, in parallel, the peripheral businesses, perhaps we can elevate business profits from these surrounding businesses. And so we will be strongly encouraging that. So these will be incremental steps taken. Colombia Asia, health care division or segment, and also we have been recycling our assets in this project as well. So when we reshuffle our portfolio and generate profitable, it will be perhaps unperiodic in a sense. And inclusive of all these activities, we look at the long-term profit indicators as well. So we have to have this viewpoint as well. Having said that, looking at the base profit where we generate flow, we do have to construct that, and we believe that, that is very, very important. So taking a snapshot of a given moment, we do have to see some favorable outcomes. But within many, many parallel projects, we also believe that we have to show strong numbers that can withstand valuation when you carve out that specific period as well. So we think that is important as well. Now in terms of your second question, which was about returns. And I do believe that you're asking about the backdrop to how we judge returns, so within our current MTMP and when we look at our cash position at the moment, by elevating our power to generate profit and the cash flow generation is much more stronger, and we do believe that, that is the basis for everything. Now having said that, in relation to let us say, energy, related businesses. We do need -- we do need to be more agile rather than just focusing on sustaining reserves as we've done in the past. So the stay in business price tag, so to speak, amongst the numbers that we have estimated in the past, we are actually seeing a lower number to stay in business. So under such circumstances, reshuffling our portfolio also will play an important factor. So management allocation, which will be the target for such allocations, the absolute value, that is the target, we are considering the overall returns. So on the right side of this chart that is currently shown, you see the executed allocation. So you see numbers, 1,500, 1,400. So this is new, which is stay in business, which is the 1,500 that you see here, which is basically growth investments. The middle 1,400 is stock buyback, and the 400 is dividends or increase in dividends. Now obviously, there will be a more good quality projects in the horizon and what we so call the pathfinders within Mitsui & Company will go out to look for such promising projects. So this is how we look at the overview, but the overall cash balance as well as the current projects in the horizon as well as future outlook, this is the backdrop to how we consider would be an optimal way of thinking returns at the current moment. I do hope this responds to your question.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you very much. So the next question, please.

I do have one question. So the balance of your management resources is my question. So as you just explained, strategic focus is basically a long-term perspective to plow the seeds for the future, I believe. So I think that in nature is quite strong. So for growth, you have been focused on the pipeline, and you will be investing in resources, and that will be the growth driver. So I think that has been a viewpoint as well. But for pipeline deals and when you execute such deals, for instance, perhaps impairment occurs or country risks occur along the way, and you have to approach that. So I do believe that with the pipeline, perhaps, things are not always on schedule as you anticipate. So quality risk management in terms of your management resources is discipline in terms of investing. Can you properly review in light of these changes perhaps? And this also continues on to the concept of strategic focus as well. So there are many technologies, and in the long term, many possibilities. So you do have a strong lineup. So for each of the businesses technologies, as well as the materials needed, what would be -- perhaps you are considering specific timelines. So for instance, natural gas that you are making investments in, as you mentioned, it will, at a certain point, peak out. So will you be shrinking your scope of investments? And I think that, that is also one way to go. Ammonia and hydrogen is one option. So in other words, will you be pinpointing and concentrating your investment? Or because I feel that you are perhaps, in a sense, making consecutive investments. And will this approach allow you to balance your investments? So once again, in terms of your allocation of management resources, I would like to question the discipline behind this.

Thank you. So you mentioned pipeline, new projects as well as -- this is where we concentrate our efforts, and I believe that you're questioning the balance of such approaches, and I believe that you're questioning each of the pillars, so to speak. And I know that I am running out of time, so I'll be very brief and highlight a few points. Our understanding of the environment right now is that there are many, many variables. And global challenges are vast. And so the trend perhaps is a movement where nobody has experienced before in the past. So we need to be resilient against such trends. And that is critical in business management. So you briefly mentioned country risks. We are obviously very cautious, but at the same time, we are very strong in specific regions. So that will be a strong underpinning factor to stabilize our business. So for instance, when we look at the recovery from COVID-19, there are so many discrepancies amongst regions. When we look at the geopolitical scene, we cannot forecast 10 years from now that easily. We have to look at the vast network and sustain the network that we have, both in U.S. and China. So we do have a global network, but at the same time, region wise, we need to diversify our efforts. And I think that is needed. Now for each of the business units, businesses, there are specific movements, Mitsui's Mobility, Energy and Chemicals are joining hands. And so there are cross domain activities. So this means that the 3 parties come together will create a next-generation mobility solution or how can we be more efficient and green in terms of solutions. So this is something that we have to go across domains. So this is because we have communication and dialogue with the players in these respective fields on a daily basis. So through these changes, how or where are the opportunities for new business chance is what we are focused on. So for the existing and the new and the strategic focus, we believe that there will be an even stronger tie. And so we will have to obviously generate a solid and stable profit. But at the same time, we have to also view these new trends as well and proceed forward. And to receive the support and understanding, we have to show the results of let us say, proof-of-concept and show what may be beyond the horizon. Now in your second part of the question, you questioned about the balance of new businesses and so forth. And so I would like to respond to that point as well. For instance, ammonia and hydrogen, for instance, green hydrogen, for instance, if we try to focus on that, then, energy producers, as well as we have to understand the -- what is the composite of the ground, how do we capture the carbon, and we have to mix all of these aspects together to create hydrogen, which means that we have to obviously leverage our past insight, at the same time, be very, very tentative towards what will be the new technologies that will allow this to happen. So obviously, we do not have all the answers. So we -- by partnering with partners, this is feasible. And if we see something that we believe that others are not yet realizing, we will take that leap. So if we try to export, for instance, hydrogen, we need -- have technical knowledge in handling ammonia, for instance. So everything based on our practical and hands-on experience will allow us to move forward. And so this combination is needed. So it is not that we are going to use new technology for the sake of using new technology. We have the insight, the past experiences, and at the same time, we have the network to partner with the people that do have the knowledge as well. So this is how we would like to proceed forward and this is how we would like to exert our success.

Thank you. So in the interest of time, this will be the last question.

Thank you very much. I do have one question. This is a question regarding environment. You are a member of TCFD, and you also have some quantitative reports as well. But I think qualitative, you are still perhaps weak. And so, I believe that there have been many questions raised regarding the environment. So to clarify understanding, it will be very helpful if Mitsui & Company issues a report. And also, it will be helpful for the TCFD to be included in the TCFD report. And also, the TCFD report where it demands to a certain extent, some quantitative reporting. What will be your stance?

Thank you very much for the question, and I do believe your question raises an extremely important point. We have a Sustainability Committee within Mitsui & Company, and to protect the planet, what are the cause for action that need to be taken, or what are the respective business units portfolios that are needed? And inclusive of global measurements as well we analyze, and this is reflected in management activities. And so this Sustainability Committee carries that role. Now how do we operator manage our portfolio in terms of business units as well, we also have a Portfolio Committee that looks into this as well. So these 2 committees are even more engaged with each other because we are looking at specific quantitative reports and analysis to deem how we should be running the company. So numbers are important, numbers are important. But how we measure those numbers? And at the same time, when we look at that extremely long industrial chain, how do we then position those numbers is important as well. So there is no standard template that is used across the world. So we also have to take into consideration these aspects as well, and we are in the midst of reflecting on how this can be reflected in our management decision. So in December, we will be hosting an ESG Day, so hopefully, we can share with you our progress on that occasion. But I would also like to add another comment. As I mentioned in the onset, for instance, our power generating portfolio. For instance, when we try to reshuffle this, we can issue numerical goals, but trade and transaction in a responsible way, how can we close the loop in a responsible way is very important because the economic aspect of the company is critical, but who are our partners and what type of action do we engage with our partners is critical as well. So we do have to look at the pragmatic numbers and also show the environmental indicators as well. And I think that showing this in the long-term is a much more responsible route that can be taken. So rather than just quoting numbers or targets or goals, we need to have a logical approach where we incrementally pull the numbers up, augment the numbers, and at the same time validate those numbers as well in a responsible way. So we will take a very multifaceted approach in this manner. So I am prenotifying of the event, but this -- we are within the company moving forward in this direction that I just explained. I do hope this answers your question.

Yes, that was very clear. And your IR activities as well as ESG actions, I believe, are well-known in the markets as well. So I do hope that Mitsui & Company are very proactive and disclosing what you are doing as well.

With that, we'd like to close the Q&A session, President Hori and CFO Uchida. Thank you very much. Now we would like to move on to the Mineral & Metal Resources business presentation. Please give us a few moments to set the stage. Thank you very much for waiting. Now we would like to give a presentation on Mineral & Metal Resources business strategy. CEO, Tetsuya Fukuda, will give the presentation.

I am Tetsuya Fukuda of the Mineral & Metal Resources business unit. And today, I will be discussing our business in this area. Our business environment is changing day by day, and our business unit is impacted by these changes. We see our mission as responding to these changes arising from the needs of the society over time, that is identifying these needs or challenges and start moving quickly to find appropriate solutions. I would first like to talk about societal megatrends related to the Mineral & Metal Resources business. Demand for mineral and metal resources has continued to expand for more than a decade, driven by the growth of China. With China peaking out in the near future, we expect to see further economic growth and development in other Asian countries and also in Africa, with increasing urbanization and infrastructure development. At the same time, we are seeing accelerated awareness of and interest in the environment. Governmental, corporate and individual interest in shift to EVs, introduction of renewable energy, recycling and the use of low environmental impact materials are impacting decision-making and behavioral patterns. We expect to see both of these 2 trends, growth and environment progressing simultaneously in the mineral metal resources value chain. While efforts to efficiently use resources and reduce environmental impact will continue, we expect demand for mineral and metals will steadily increase in line with economic growth. Under these circumstances, we see the following challenges facing the mineral metal resources and raw materials industry. This must be when we come to realize a stable and sustainable development of society: one, investment into the supply chain of mineral and metal resources to sustainably supply resources especially as deposits remaining around the globe face more and more difficult conditions; and two, supply of clean low environmental impact raw materials and materials as an industrial business at the start of the value chain through a combination of technology innovation, development and economic feasibility; and finally, three, develop and provide structures to remote efficient use of resources. Mitsui recognizes above social challenges and issues. In this slide, I would like to give an overview of our Mineral & Metal Resources business. Amid a drastically changing business environment, we will continue to reinforce our underground resources business, one of our strengths, while simultaneously aiming to deliver industrial solutions for social issues, and the sustainable growth of our business through the expansion of our recycling business. The concepts of addressing changes in the global environment and taking on challenges in new domains are key to addressing both these areas. In order to make our society and business sustainable, we must, one, continue working to reduce environmental impact in the value chain from resource extraction to recycling, while we, two, keep an eye on product and business areas where social needs are expected to arise in response to changes in the global environment and develop and realize new businesses. In this slide, I will briefly explain the quantitative side of our business. Our business unit have continuously contributed to generating stable cash flow. The cumulative core operating cash flow for our business unit for the last 5 years is JPY 1.2 trillion. This is a result of the investments and efforts we have made until now. We have been committed to the underground resources business for over 50 years and have played a role in continuing to provide a stable supply of mineral metal resources to address the changing needs of the times. Although the earnings of the business are affected by commodity market cycles, we have a highly competitive business and have built a business foundation that can withstand downward pressure and also capture earnings upside. In particular, our iron ore business in Australia and Brazil, and copper business, such as Collahuasi, have overwhelming cost competitiveness. Looking to the future, we will build on our existing business foundation and secure returns despite the changing environment through the business initiatives I will now describe. First, I'd like to talk about the underground resource business. For the future, demand for blast furnace raw materials, such as iron ore and metallurgical coal have increased amid economic growth by China. Responding to climate change is an essential factor for our medium- to long-term business continuity. Meanwhile, there is no substitute material at this point in time for iron in terms of the role it plays in supporting societal development, and we anticipate that iron demand will hold steady, with demand expected to grow in India and Southeast Asian countries. We anticipate continued large-scale demand over the long term. In addition, there are many metal resources necessary for the realization of low-carbon society. Demand for materials that contribute to electrification and electric vehicles, such as copper, nickel and lithium is expected to increase significantly. In order to ensure a stable supply of these metals, we are aiming to expand production and also increase ore reserves and resources within each business sector. For example, we will replenish iron ore reserves as announced on June 2, and through acquisition of the Western reach deposits. We are also in talks regarding commercialization of low-carbon iron sources. Technological innovations and developing business for new steelmaking methods and GHG emission reductions are difficult and will certainly take time. However, we will continue to work and make progress in these areas as part of our mission within the Resources business. We will also enhance and expand our copper and battery raw materials business. We have purchased an additional state in Collahuasi copper mine in Chile, where we have been involved for over 20 years since the mine was opened; and an asset, highly competitive and with a plan for future expansion. The market for battery raw materials is expected to significantly grow in the future and will further strengthen our efforts to supply raw materials needed within the battery value chain. We will solidify our earnings base by thoroughly reinforcing our existing businesses, as well as by improving the quality of our overall business portfolio and taking necessary steps to realize low carbon society. Now I would like to explain about our recycling business. Mitsui has long been engaged in the recycling business through the mineral and metal resources industry. As concepts of life cycle assessment, products and goods takes hold, recycling and utilization recycled raw materials will become even more crucial, and the business more important. In terms of batteries, as electric vehicles continue to increasingly replace vehicles using internal combustion engines, we see the establishment of means to collect, reuse and recycle batteries that have fulfilled the product lifespan, as well as the establishment of a value chain that supports this and both an industrial and societal need. Under such market and social conditions in metals recycling, especially for iron and nonferrous metals, it is expected that scrap generation will increase as the emerging markets continue to mature. We plan to strengthen our efforts with our customers and business partners in Asia and other parts of the world. Additionally, we aim to strengthen our existing electric arc furnace business. And total infrastructure maintenance business that will support the extension of the lifespan of the infrastructure under the theme of circular economy. Also, we aim to play a role in the formation of battery value chain. In addition to development of resources to be used as battery raw materials, as mentioned in our explanation of underground resource business, we will promote the reuse of batteries and recycling of raw materials. And accordingly, we would like to establish a societal economic system to support the circulation of these materials. As part of our core business, we work with our partners, who are the operators as well. To improve the operations, recycle water and other resources and promote low carbon initiatives and environmental protection on a day-to-day basis. We have further businesses and initiatives planned in these areas. I will explain 3 of those initiatives. The first involves our mining business. As we have done conventionally, we are currently working on and will continue to focus on increasing the value of our mining business by demonstrating the comprehensive strengths. The second initiative is the supply of recycled raw materials and low-carbon materials. Earlier, I have focused on -- I have touched upon our commercialization of low-carbon iron sources, but we plan to continue making effective use of resources and supporting society development, while incorporating recycled raw materials as well. This is the area where there is much that we cannot contribute. The third initiative is the formation of new markets and business areas. This will probably be explained in the detail during the following presentation by the CEO of the Energy Solutions business unit, but they are the business areas that will overlap with our new -- with our own underground resources or provide new developments. In addition to the battery related initiatives already explained, this is an area in which we will not only add value to our existing business, but create new markets such as through the utilization of renewable energy in each of our mines and mining-related businesses, as well as through hydrogen value chain initiatives. By leveraging our strengths in such manner, we'll work to both strengthen our existing business clusters and create new business through collaboration and expansion with related businesses. This will be the last slide for me. Our business unit will continue to work to improve the quality and also expand the business centering our efforts on both underground and surface resources with an eye on the change in the global environment while establishing new businesses and business clusters. Thus, we are aiming for the realization of the stable supply of raw materials and the creation of circular society. In 2030, we aim to realize downside resilient portfolio with a stable core operating cash flow of JPY 200 billion regardless of commodity prices. Thank you very much for your attention.

Now we'd like to move on to the Q&A session. [Operator Instructions] Now we will take the first question.

I have 1 question. Page 7, you talked about the composite business development, and you talked about 1, 2, 3, the 3 initiatives. And you said that the mining business have operators, and you'll be collaborating with the operator going forward. With 1, 2 and 3, where -- which are the areas you are going to collaborate with the operator? And which one are you going to do independently? In other words, which area would you be leading the business?

Yes, thank you very much for the question. I believe, that's a very important point. When we have a partnership doing business, operators take on the operating side of the business. So we need to be face-to-face with our operators, and we need to participate in the management, making many proposals so that we can add value. That is something that we have been promoting so far, and that is something that we will continue do in the future. And which are the areas we can show our strengths and which areas are we going to prioritize? That is something dependent on the business formats. We need to think about the issues each businesses are facing and issues each country may be facing. And in consideration of these factors, the way we do business is going to change. When it comes to recycling, raw materials or scrap coming from mining business, we need to take care of them ourselves or with our partners so that we can distribute them. And that is something that we have started to realize. And in Chile, for example, we are working on desalination of the seawater, and that is something that we are working with our partner. Does that answer your question?

Yes, thank you very much.

Next question.

I have one question. So from China, there are scraps that are coming out being generated. And the carbon sources is something that you have talked about, and recycling business is important. And you have -- had worked on Siemens, but that was not working very well. And in the scraps and circular businesses, there are no companies that are doing well in those areas. So how to capture this rather than mining business, you have to have a network to collect the materials. So how can you show strengths? Is there any specific idea that you can share with us?

Thank you very much for your question. In our company, the centering on ferrous or iron scraps, we have been in the recycling business since more than 30 years ago. And in the past, especially the iron scrap business model that we have taken, was about deep sea or sea surface trade was used to carry the scraps from the countries where they are generated to the countries that there is a demand for scraps. So from the West Coast of the U.S., for example, to Korea or other Asian countries, where there is a demand, the transportation of those materials was the focal point in the past. But as you know, the scrap and other related regulations are being made more stringent, and the distribution path of the scraps are now changing and very different. So local production and local consumption centered recycling business is something that we need to work on going forward. And what we have done in the U.S. in terms of collection of scraps. And as you said, since the investments and what we have nurtured as expertise from these businesses will be taken advantage of, especially in China and other Asian countries especially. We would like to focus on scrap recycling business in those areas.

A follow-up question. So if you talk about 10 years later, do you think this is going to be on a large scale? Is that how you're approaching this business now?

For example, the electric arc furnace ratio in the world is 28% currently. But in 2030, this will be increased by 10 percentage points or close to 10 percentage points. So the scrap demand is definitely expected to increase in the world, especially when it comes to China, the iron scrap demand is going to be quite increased and the supply demand situation will be tightened. So how to approach that is something that we are now working on currently.

We have a question through a text. We'd like to make it the last question.

On Page 5, you talked about the nickel lithium, how interest will be expanded. What are the areas? What are the development stages? What are the development items? For example, in Chile, I believe there is a project progressing there.

Yes, thank you very much for the question. As I mentioned earlier, battery raw materials are nickel and lithium, and we believe that the demand is going to increase going forward. And when it comes to such resources, how to secure them and how to expand them is going to be a very, very important measure for us. When it comes to such interest, how are we going to make investments in the upstream, the specifics are not realized yet. However, not only limited to investment into the upstream, but throughout the value chain, we'd like to enhance our initiatives and measures going forward. And as was mentioned earlier, the project in Chile is one such example. But in South America, we are seeing projects that we are considering, how we are going to develop them further is something that we are putting our efforts into. Thank you.

Thank you very much for the question. With that, we'd like to close the Q&A session. thank you very much, Mr. Fukuda.

Thank you.

And next, for Energy Business Strategy, we have with us Managing Officer, COO Energy Business Unit I and Energy Solutions Business Unit, Toru Matsui.

Hello, everyone. I am Toru Matsui. In addition to being the Chief Operating Officer of the Energy Solutions Business Unit, I was appointed to the Chief Operating Officer of the Energy Business Unit I in April. My vision, being responsible for both conventional and next-generation energies, is to transform the portfolio of our energy businesses as we head towards a carbon-free society. Today, I would like to talk about our business strategies based on energy transition. First, I would like to explain how we see the environment that surrounds our business areas. Societal needs for cleaner energy are growing. As one of the measures taken to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, governments not only in developed countries such as Europe and the United States, but also in some emerging nations such as China, are promoting the introduction of green energy. Given this megatrend, corporations in various industries are working to reduce carbon or moving towards decarbonization. The energy businesses of the next-generation are rapidly growing in parallel with this trend. On the other hand, as global energy demand is expected to increase in the medium to long term, conventional energies will still be indispensable for the time being, especially in developing countries in Asia. So filling both energy security and low decarbonization is becoming an increasingly important social need. Based on this business environment, Mitsui continues to adhere to its materiality to create an eco-friendly society. We will continue our mission of energy security, ensure economic efficiency and create value, while continuously contributing to the realization of low-carbon or carbon-free society. Next, I would like to talk about how our current core businesses and comprehensive strength will be a force for us as we promote this energy transition. Through our core businesses of LNG, E&P and power, we have built a global presence with a solid track record in the market. As being experts in these core business industries, we can take advantage of the partnerships, customer base and knowledge that we have built to enable ourselves to lead the transition to next-generation energies. This is our first strength. We have accumulated expertise that is deeply embedded in various industries and regions, and we are able to understand the diverse needs of all industries facing the move to low-carbon or carbon-free society. Our second strength is that we can create businesses to provide solutions that meet those needs. It is our people that will leverage these 2 strengths to create new businesses. As expressed by the phrase of our predecessor, people create business refined people skills indicates, our diverse global human resources will continuously evolve our strength while promoting next-generation energy business and create new and stronger businesses. This is the energy transition that we are aiming for. Now I will explain how Mitsui's energy transition will be moved forward by leveraging our strengths. As the world moves toward carbon neutral LNG with a low environmental burden will play an important role as a transitional fuel. LNG will continue to be one of our core businesses that generates profit. Moreover, we will work to reduce the carbon emission of LNG itself, and in parallel, take advantage of our strong relationships with customers and know-how regarding carbon credit business to supply carbon neutral LNG, for example. In order to achieve the target ratio of 30% renewable energy ratio in our power generation business portfolio by 2030, we are promoting renewable energy businesses centering on solar power generation. We will continue to work on the new downstream area where decentralization of power and electrification of mobility are combined with adjustment functions such as battery storage and power trading. In E&P business, we will work to strengthen and restructure our asset portfolio and improve those values, especially of the core assets which we can utilize our operatorship and comprehensive strengths. In addition, by utilizing our network within the industry and the E&P platforms that we have developed over many years, we are working on the CC U.S. business and geothermal energy business which have a high technological affinity with E&P. At the same time, we are using our strengths to create new core businesses. A typical example of this would be our investment and development of a biofuel business together with LanzaTech, a company that has a proprietary technology for the conversion of exhaust gas into ethanol. Utilizing the customer base of Mitsui, we are connecting LanzaTech with steelworks and refineries that are interested in using their exhaust gases and developing bioethanol manufacturing businesses in China, India, Europe and other countries. Moreover, we have invested in LanzaTech, which has the technology to refine ethanol and produce bio jet fuel. We are continuing plant development in the United States and considering the -- to expand the business in Japan as well. We will also promote ammonia fuel and hydrogen businesses by leveraging our strong relationships with gas oil-producing countries, major energy partners and customers. By promoting the transition of our existing portfolio and the expansion of next-generation energy businesses that leverage our strength simultaneously, we will develop business clusters and promote the energy transition while maintaining and expanding our strengths. I would now like to show you some specific examples of the energy transition that we are promoting. First of all, I will touch upon our power business in the United States. In the United States, where the ratio of renewable energy centered on solar power generation has increased to about 21% of total U.S. power generation, by 2050, it will double to 42%, and it's expected that the spread of renewable energy and the decentralization of power sources will further increase. Given this environment, we are building a business portfolio centered on the distributed solar power generation company, ForeFront Power, in which Mitsui owns 100%. And by combining the functions of other businesses in which we have invested, we will create further value as an integrated energy service provider. The promotion of zero-emission vehicles, the EVs, is also expected to cause a major change in demand structure due to the emergence of new forms of electricity demand. Taking advantage of our strengths to be involved in both power and mobility industry, we made investments in EV Connect, which runs charging infrastructure business, The Mobility House, which provides charging optimization functions for fleet owners and Lucid Motors, which manufactures luxury EVs. Through these businesses, we are promoting electrification, and by extension, we are cultivating new demand in the power industry. Another initiative I would like to talk about is the supply and demand adjustment function. With a spread of renewable energy, which is affected by weather and changes in the behavior of power consumers, there is an increasing need for the adjustment of the balance between supply and demand for electricity. In 2015, we invested in Stem Inc., which provides energy management services using storage batteries. The business bundles solar power generation and storage batteries and provides a supply and demand adjustment function that reduces power consumption and stabilizes a grid for its customers. At the same time, MEMS, a wholly owned Mitsui subsidiary and energy trader, is expanding its business to electric power trading services that functions as a supply and demand adjustment mechanism via the market. In these ways, multiple businesses in which we have invested organically and complexly overlapping, and we are working daily to develop the functions and services that we aim to provide to customers as an integrated energy service provider. The hydrogen and ammonia business will be a long term initiative. We will take advantage of our presence in upstream businesses, such as LNG and E&P as well as the strength of our industrial ammonia business where we have an approximately 80% share of the imported ammonia market in Japan to build a value chain from upstream hydrogen and ammonia production to end users. When producing blue hydrogen and blue ammonia from natural gas, carbon capture and storage, CCS, is used to capture CO2 and storage underground for CCS, which has high affinity with E&P technology, our investment in metal in Mitsui oil exploration limited, which have the ability to take E&P operatorship can be utilized. The technology's know-how and strong relationship with partners and each government in which we build up through LNG and E&P business, should be a big advantage for us to promote blue hydrogen and Blue ammonia businesses. From the perspective of using hydrogen and ammonia, we expect that it will mostly be used in transportation sector in the short term. We will provide hydrogen fuel and vehicle packages for airports and fuel cell vehicle, FCVs, conversion of mining machinery as one of the decarbonization initiatives by mining companies. There are some examples of business creation utilizing our wide customer network and comprehensive strengths. In the medium to long term, ammonia for power generation in Japan is being highlighted as a solution to achieve low carbon emissions. The demand is estimated to be 3 million tonnes per annum in 2030 and 30 million tons in 2050, which is about 30x the scale of the present demand of 1 million tons. In order to meet these energy demands in Japan, we will continue the study of production, as well as building the supply chain. We'll be taking roles in the steps from production to sell of hydrogen and ammonia to provide solutions of decarbonization and contribute to the transition to a load or carbon-free society. Our intention is to grow hydrogen and ammonia business to be the pillar of our portfolio. The final example I would like to talk about is our carbon solution business. We have been accumulating know-how in carbon credit creation domain from an early stage as we have been involved in Cambodia, REDD+ business from 2018. The carbon credits are attracting interest as a solution for carbon offset needs, and we are meeting the needs of our customers in various industries. As an example, in March 2021, we achieved a delivery of carbon neutral LNG to the Hokkaido Gas Company by combining carbon credits certified by a highly reliable organization under our LNG supply. In the future, we will utilize these achievements in providing solutions to other industries such as green steel. Also, as I mentioned earlier, we are advancing the carbon capture and storage CCS business using our E&P platforms. We have participated in investment in CCS operator, Storegga, in U.K., which is taking a lead in the business domain. Also, Mitsui is considering CCS initiatives for their gas interest in Australia. We intend to accumulate know-how and experience in these businesses and in the future, we would like to build up CCU's value chain in which we can reduce the carbon emission levels of our own E&P and LNG projects, or utilize the carbon credits obtained from our CCS business to provide carbon offset solutions or offtake CO2 from customers transported to areas where storage is possible, such as Asia, and store it. Neither the global energy transition nor our own energy transition will happen just by turning a switch, but will be like a journey to make transition responsibly. Including the examples I have introduced today, a transition of energy portfolio is steadily progressing. We will utilize the cash-generating ability of our core businesses to invest in the creation and growth of the next-generation energy businesses, in which I explained today and take responsibility for the energy transition journey while leveraging our strength. Through these kinds of initiatives, we will take the lead in the changeover of cleaner energy. And will build a strong new business foundation while contributing to solving global issues. Lastly, I would like to explain about your quantitative forecast for the fiscal year ended March 2021, core operating cash flow was JPY 123.2 billion. And profit of the year was JPY 27.2 billion due to the decline in crude oil and gas prices under the impact of COVID-19. By strengthening profitability of core businesses, our segment forecast core operating cash flow of JPY 130 billion and profit of JPY 60 billion for the final year of the current medium-term management plan. Also, we will steadily proceed with pipeline projects for the LNG and E&P businesses aiming to expand stable earnings even after the current midterm period. In addition, by processing the energy transition in which I explained today and creating new business clusters and combining them with our core businesses, we aim to build a segment structure that will make a long-term and sustainable profit contribution. Thank you for your attention.

Now we would like to open the floor for Q&A. [Operator Instructions] So the first question, please.

Thank you very much for the presentation. I have one question. You mentioned ammonia and hydrogen in the presentation. So until 2030, when we draw the line at 2030, to what extent will it connect to your business? And how will it contribute to your profit and core cash flow? So if you could cite some quantitative numbers, that will be quite helpful. If difficult, perhaps some qualitative aspects. At the same time, is this focus only for Japan, or perhaps -- you are perhaps cultivating more opportunities abroad. So if you could also mention regions as well. So this is a question regarding hydrogen and ammonia.

Thank you very much for the question. So let me respond to that question. So as you rightly mentioned, as of now, by 2030, the quantitative numbers, we are not at the liberty to disclose at this point. So instead, I would like to explain to you some of our strategies. For hydrogen and ammonia strategy at Mitsui, we have short, mid and long-term approaches. So we are looking at this in 3 timelines or timeframes. And as you pointed out, it is not just limited to a focus here in Japan, but it is a global approach. I would like to start with the short term. There are countries that are more advanced in terms of regulations. For instance, a good example is California in the United States. So for instance, they are very focused on generating locally and consuming locally. And in the state of California, they first installed fuels, which has the vastest fuel cell stations, we have made investments. So insight can be deepened through this partnership. And at the same time, we can embed ourselves into the network as well. Now for the midterm, we will focus on industrial usage, which we believe will be the stream for profit generation. One initiative is the fact that we have comprehensive strength and we can work across domains, and we can leverage this capability. So this is basically for mining activities, the usage of hydrogen. So in the various fields, diesel are being used by trucks and machinery, we can replace this with hydrogen. And so this is a trend, and we do believe that our cross-border strength and comprehensive strength can provide solutions, and this will lead to a future profit stream. Now in the long term, as I slightly highly updated in the presentation as well. This is -- will be for power generation usage. So this is basically for fuel ammonia or perhaps hydrogen. So these will be used for power generation purposes. So once again, we have put that in our horizon, and starting now blue hydrogen and ammonia or green hydrogen and green ammonia. And the production of such, we are looking at the proof-of-concept activities, as well as FS activities. Now for power generation activities, we do believe that we can leverage greatly our strengths, but it will be a long-term endeavor, so we will have to make strong commitments and focus on the long-term for such activities. So I know that I could not directly respond to your question, but I do hope this response will suffice.

Thank you very much. So we would like to make that next question the last question.

Thank you very much for the presentations. I have just one question. In the presentation you have just given, when it comes to the Energy Solutions Business Unit, the strength and direction, I think, I have a very good understanding of -- however, how are they going to be realized? How are they going to be linked together? That is very hard to see from the outside. Last year, at the Investor Day, the qualitative vision was given 2025, JPY 10 billion and 2030 of JPY 20 billion. I think these the numbers announced. The direction, going forward, hydrogen, ammonia, we believe, are the long-term perspective. But for the numbers to be realized towards '25 for JPY 10 billion, what are the businesses that are going to contribute first? Can you speak about the numbers in detail? Of course, there will be some differences in the trade of carbon offset and carbon credit. So can you give us a hint of what we can expect going forward, please?

Thank you very much for your questions. Yes, last year, Energy Solutions Business Unit revenue numbers were given in 2025, JPY 10 billion. And in 2030, JPY 20 billion was announced, and that has not changed. The initiatives that we are working on and looking to will be initiated and implemented to achieve these numbers. But as we take these initiatives, of course, as we go into those industries, we will see a new landscape. And we may be able to expand those businesses, and that is something we may see to our sales in the future. And as President Hori mentioned earlier, we are not going to be tied to those numbers, but we are going to aim for even higher numbers going forward. When it comes to the short-term in the Energy Solutions area, what we are seeing accelerated movement is a renewable energy for electricity. And we believe that, that is something that is being accelerated. So including the diversified or decentralized energy, that is something that we may see more profit coming from. And when it comes to fossil fuel, low carbonization solution is something of a focus at the moment, and we believe these are the businesses that we can work on now in the short term. We have the biofuel trade or partnership with LanzaTech, and we believe that is something that we can work on, focus on for now. As the carbonization and carbon neutral is a trend in the world, and with COVID-19, we believe these trends are being accelerated. When it comes to automobile, transportation being made automatically electrified, I think, that is something that we are seeing as a trend as well. So we will work on solar energy. And we will see new landscape in relation to EV, and we will work on battery as well. So we believe these are the areas that we can work on, including battery storage. So I think these are the directions we'll be moving towards going into the future.

Thank you very much. I understand very well.

Thank you very much for the question. With that, we'd like to close the Q&A session. Thank you very much, Mr. Matsui. Now we'd like to take a break and we will convene at 3:30. Please be back by 3:30. Thank you. [Break]

Thank you very much for waiting. We'd like to start the second half of this Investor Day presentations. With regard to Healthcare/Nutrition business strategy, there will be a presentation presented by Mr. Masato Sugahara, the COO of Wellness Business Unit.

I am Sugahara from Wellness Business Unit. From this fiscal year, the Healthcare & Service Business Unit has been changed to Wellness Business Unit. And Healthcare & Service, those businesses are covered by the business unit, but the Wellness covers the both, and we have put this wellness as part of the name. And we will be contributing to the more affluent life of people in a broader and deeper manner. And I'd like to talk about Healthcare/Nutrition business domain on behalf of this business unit. And in the FT, we have posted this video. So please take a look first. [Presentation]

So as you saw in the video, from patient to day-to-day consumers, individuals, and from treatment to pre disease and prevention, there's a great transition. And there's a rapid wave of transformation that we are seeing for digitalization. That is the characteristic of this industry or business domain. And you can see what we have presented at the Investor Day in November last year, the IHH response to COVID-19, and it's been 6 months since then. And testing for COVID-19 and treatment were provided. But not just that, but in vaccination program in different countries, responses have been made and agility has been exhibited, and we have demonstrated resilience in pandemic. And IHS 2021 first quarter earnings results were announced last week. And the fewer medical tourism patients have been offset by the domestic business, and there has been strong recoveries seen. And year-on-year, in the first quarter, revenue has increased by 11% and EBITDA, 31%. And next, in the health care and nutrition business domain, this is the future vision. You can see the picture, which is the same as the overall company. But there are 3 business clusters that we are going to create, and each of the business clusters have the core business, and in the peripheral business, there will be new business created, and the business will be grown and recycled. In the hospital and the clinic, we will reinforce IHH further and real medical, clinical sites value will be increased. In a data health area, we will be elevating this more, but huge amount of patient data of IHH will be used, and this will be a span out as the core business and will constitute business clusters. And WAM, which is shown here, this was mentioned by the President Hori as well, and I will explain once again about what WAM, Wellness All Mitsui is what WAM stands for. And as I said at the outset, the individuals on a day-to-day basis, and pre disease will be what we are aware of. And digital tools will be used to create new revenue source of business profit base. And we are going to have wellness business clusters with all Mitsui. And next, in the hospital and clinic business segment, IHH is the core and necessary reinforcement program. And as you can see in the first line, for the next 4 to 5 years, ROE will be more than doubled. And at this moment, in the first quarter, and fourth quarter of 2020, the earnings was quite brisk. And so ROE have already doubled year-on-year in the near term. But the single high number or slightly less than 10% is something that we are aiming for in terms of ROE. And as I have said, the basic strategy of IHH reinforcement has not changed. There will be prioritization of -- and also rationalization through regional business clusters, and there will be also rationalization of management. Through the group synergy and procurement will be streamlined within the group. There is no specific numbers that I can share with you today, but there will be there are results that are being achieved steadily. And $1 billion worth of procurement or about 10% savings can be expected. And as new growth strategy, IHH management efficiency improvement will be done with data utilization, and also in the U.S. It is becoming more common to use laboratory business within the group. And this will be span out, and this will be used as a user contact point and the new laboratory business will be launched in Asia. And next, IHH, data-driven business for our company. The huge amount of patient data that IHH owns will be centralized. And this will be linked to various solutions, and we have mentioned several times this, but know-how and resources of Mitsui will be taken advantage of, and we are working with IHS to realize this. At this moment, I can't be more specific today, but in the near future, I would like to share with you more specific initiatives. And as for data usage, as you can see on the left, there are -- the efficiency of the management of IHH itself will be improved and quality of the hospitals will be enhanced. As we said in the Investor Day last year, the treatment or the medical care in Asia is focused on treatment and volume, but we have to transition to outcome oriented one or value-based healthcare, which is centered on patients, and we would like to promote usage of in-hospital data. And as you can see on the right, we will create new data-driven businesses. For example, the vital data that hospitals was -- were used for health management and guidance for individuals. As you see, the wearable devices are now becoming more available in the world, and medical health records are not linked with this, which is an issue. So from the perspective of clinicians, we would like to make it a reality. And at the early stage, we can -- we have to detect the patients that can become really sick, and healthcare costs will be reduced. And also, we work with pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies to help improve the treatment. MyCARE in Malaysia, we have previously announced our investments into this company. And so such businesses will be an important player in data-driven businesses. And in China, the largest life insurer, there was a spin-out and an AI company dubbed Ping an Good Doctor, which boasts already a market cap of JPY 1.4 trillion. And gap and others are very focused on probing into the consumer into the health care business from a consumer business perspective. Now I would like to focus on WAM because, as you can note here, it crosses various business units. And so we will be flexibly augmenting our strengths. And WAM is a slogan that we use. So if you could please look at this illustration, the light yellow portion, inclusive of Japan, this is the business portfolio of advanced countries. And you can see around hospitals, we have individual health, as well as preventive medicines, as well as handled. Now the light green shows hospital and clinics. So IHH, again is the core, and this focuses more or less on the emerging countries in Asia. So these 2 businesses in terms of region as well as time, there is still a distance. So what we aim for at WAM is as follows: connect, as you see in the yellow, our existing businesses, synchronize and expand as a new profit base. But at the same time, in parallel, we would like to seek synergy effects with hospitals and clinics as well to create the largest wellness business throughout Asia. Now we have put together the assets for WAM strategy. If you can look at the left yellow column. So one is focusing on the pragmatic solutions at points of care. Second is focusing on health management solutions. So for the HOKENDOHJINSHA and AIM, you see 2 company names. Now HOKENDOHJINSHA, as we mentioned in last year's Investor Day, they have been spun off, and we have put them under our affiliation. And we can now enjoy synergy effects between HOKENDOHJINSHA and AIM. Now the third part that I would like to highlight is evidence-based scientific solutions. So once again, we will focus on, once again, synergy effects. This will be my last slide. In past investor days, as we have explained, Healthcare and Nutrition, all in all, is a very high entry multiple. So we do not look at PAT, but rather, we focus on each of the individual entities and use EBITDA as an indicator. So as I explained, we will focus on each of the businesses, and this will allow us to enhance and elevate our EBITDA to exceed JPY 100 billion for short, mid and long term. We will further enhance the value of the companies, and we will also focus on restructuralization as recycling as well to expand the business to this scale. So that will conclude my presentation. Thank you very much.

We'd like to move to the Q&A. [Operator Instructions] Now the first question.

Do we have connection with the questioner?

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for today. I have one question. In the presentation material, Page 9, the future increase of profit target. In March 2023, JPY 15 billion increase in profit is expected, and there will be even more increase in profit. So do you have specific measures to ensure this increase in March 2023? And for the future, do you assume further investments to achieve these increases in profits, or can you achieve those increases in the profit like in March 2026 with the assets that you already own? Especially in terms of asset size and investment, what is your assumption?

Thank you for your question. As for March 2022, for this fiscal year, IHH recovery or whether we are exceeding the performance that was achieved pre pandemic, and this is something that has been incorporated in March 2022. And as for March 2023, no new independent investments are foreseen. There will be upgrading of individual businesses and the increase in profits assumed and in the next medium-term management plan, ahead of March 2026, new business clusters will be formed. And as you can see, laboratory business and others are expected to contribute to profit. Did that answer your question?

Thank you. And as for March 2026, JPY 110 billion is something I'd like to ask more about. With the new M&As, perhaps, and at this moment, the ROE that you're targeting at, slightly less than double-digit, is something that we can achieve. Are you talking about March 2023?

No, March 2026.

Okay.

The trial calculation of ROE has not been done in such a precise manner. As you can see, the pipeline projects, but we're not in a position to disclose them. So this has been made a bit vague, but -- in this slide. But ROIC that we have as an internal index is something that we will be fully aware of.

Thank you.

We would now like to move on to the next question.

I have one question. So for the IHH business, I understand that you have strong expectations. But I believe that the data was not usable cross-border. But I believe now based on your presentation, in the near future, you'll be able to generate business from the data. So perhaps the data that you have accumulated can be used for clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies. Is there something concrete, will be my question. So to what extent is the patient data usable at this point? If you can disclose anything, that would be helpful.

Thank you very much for the question. For IHH data itself and centralizing this data was where we started off with the project. But the point here that I wanted to highlight is the fact that this project is being rolled out. In other words, it is steadfastly being progressed. As I also mentioned in my presentation, IHH and Mitsui & Co., it is a project that we are working on together. So at this point, I cannot disclose anything concrete. However, in the not-so-distant future, I believe that we can share something with you. Would that answer suffice?

So the data that you generate or you accumulate, is IHH going to use that data? Or I'm sure that you will be anormalized the data. So perhaps Mitsui can use it as well. So the question is, IHH will be leveraging the data to execute a business?

So if you can take a look at the slide, one more time on the left-side, this will be basically focusing on efficianizing IHH business itself, and hence, contributing to a profit increase. But these are internal IHH calculation, so I will not disclose any of this. But in the range of hundreds of millions, there will be an economic impact. Now if you move your eyes to the right, I believe this is what you are asking about. In other words, using this data, and leveraging this data to create businesses outside of IHH. So for instance, individuals or insurers or pharmaceutical and medical device companies. As you see here, are on the list and using data from the Asia's largest hospital network is something that they are very interested in.

Thank you very much.

In the interest of time, we would like to take the last question.

I have one question. In this business domain or business unit, the cash flow is something I'd like to ask about. How do you see the cash flow? The KPI is the equity of EBITDA of individual companies, affiliates, and IHH is the company that equity method is applied to. And that may be one of the reasons that you use this as an index. So if you look at the whole IHH and if you regard that as 100%, there are things that you cannot capture fully from IHH, rather, and you may increase your share. And do you have any plan to get IHS consolidated as the profit of IHS increases? Is that one of the scenarios that you can imagine, envision? Or as you said, on the right of Page 5, the data-driven businesses that you're going to do is not IHH, but Mitsui & Co. that is going to do this. So the profit and cash of this data-driven business can be captured into Mitsui & Co. So IHH remains the company that equity method is applied to. That will not affect the Mitsui consolidated profitability. Is that true? So how much you can control? And how do you see the data driven business? How do you capture the profitability of data-driven business that you're going to do? Can you elaborate more on that?

Thank you for the question. A very crucial question that you asked. As you said, with regard to it at the moment, equity method is applied to the affiliates, so we cannot capture the cash flow of IHH. However, on the other hand, the equity we are not going to consolidate IHH. So equity of EBITDA, of individual affiliates is something that we use. And this is the reason. And in terms of cash flow, I think this will be the challenge that we have to do as the next stage. And so as for the data flow, in terms of cash generation, from early stage, there isn't going to be too much expectation that we can make. But for the moment, we like to improve enterprise value and focus on that. And at appropriate timing, we would like to monetize unrealized profit to generate cash. And after that, at the earliest timing possible, as we see the stabilization of the businesses, we will be able to increase the businesses that will be consolidated so that we can capture the cash flow of those businesses as well. Did that answer your question?

Yes, thank you.

Thank you very much. So that concludes the Q&A of this presentation. Thank you very much, Mr. Sugahara. Next, Market Asia Business Strategy, Asia Pacific Business Unit. Koji Nagatomi, will be giving the presentation. Nagatomi is now stationed in Singapore. And due to state of emergency, he will be joining us from Singapore remotely. Thank you very much.

My name is Koji Nagatomi, I was appointed as Chief Operating Officer of the Asia Pacific business unit in April. Today, I will explain our Market Asia Business Strategy, which is one of the areas of strategic focus in our current medium-term management plan. I would now like to talk about the potential of Asia and touch upon some of the key economic and demographic drivers. First, Asia is a huge market with 4.3 billion people, accounting for 55% of the world's population. As of 2020. In addition to China and India, Asian countries account for half of the top 10 most populous countries with populations of 270 million in Indonesia, 220 million in Pakistan and 160 million in Bangladesh. We also cannot overlook the Philippines and Vietnam, which has a population of approximately 100 million. Moreover, Asia's population is expected to grow to 4.6 billion people by 2030. Second, there is an abundance of young people. In 2020, the average age of the population was 30.2 years in Southeast Asia and 27.6 years in South Asia compared to an average of 48.4 years in Japan. This demographic dividend will be the driving force behind Asia's future growth. Third, Asia's GDP reached $32 trillion in 2020, up from $20 trillion in 2010. And in this time, it's share of the world GDP rose from 30.5% to 37.4%. By 2026, Asia's GDP is expected to reach $49 trillion with global share of 40%. We often hear the expression, the aging age, the aging century, and it can be said that Asia is already playing a leading role in driving global economic growth. Furthermore, the future GDP growth rate of emerging Asian countries will average 5% per year, the highest of any region, surpassing growth rates in Africa. Asia's economic presence will increase more than ever. Lastly, this economic growth will also increase the purchasing power of people in Asia, making Asia an attractive consumer market that will continue to grow dramatically through to 2030. A number of people with household disposable income of $5,000 or more will increase from 2.5 billion in 2020 to 3.5 billion in 2030. If we focus on households earning $15,000 and above, where we expect spending on dining out, health and leisure to increase, the number will more than double from 900 million in 2020 to 2 billion in 2030. I would like to take a slightly different angle and explain the potential of Asian countries in terms of GDP per capita in comparison with Japan. The GDP per capita of major Asian countries in 2020 ranges widely from $1,260 in Pakistan to $59,000 in Singapore. Many of these countries are at the GDP per capita level of Japan's economy in the late '60s and early 1980s. The majority of the countries with populations of 50 million or more shown in dark blue are in this category. When the GDP per capita exceeds $2,500, modernization begins. And when it surpasses $5,000, demand for services increases. In the late 1960s and early 1980s, Japan was overcoming 2 oil shocks and was in process of transition from high economic growth to stable growth in its pursuit of affluence. To illustrate what it was like this time in Japan, we saw the opening of the first McDonald's store in 1971, the first 7-Eleven convenience store in 1974 and the launch of Yamato Transport parcel delivery service in '76. While the Tanaka cabinet launched its planned for remodeling the Japanese archipelago in '72. On the other hand, we do not expect Asian economies to grow exactly as Japan did. One key difference in this modern age is digital. Regardless of the stage of economic development, mobile phones have come within the region. Practically anyone, even in countries referred to as these developed countries. As a result, mobile phones have become the starting point for consumers to access the information they need in all aspects of their daily lives. Younger generations, in particular, have mastered the art of using this information in their daily lives. In that sense, we must fully recognize that this is an environment in which power has shifted to consumers. In fact, if you look around the daily life in Asia, you will find that digitalization is progressing faster than you would imagine, particularly in the area of payments and transportation. Cashless transactions are steadily becoming more popular in Southeast Asia countries, such as Indonesia, and the ratio of cashless payment may be higher than in Japan. Asian consumers are also accustomed to using ride-hailing apps such as Grab and Gojek for their daily transportation. Even when COVID-19 restricts their activities and restaurants are closed, food delivery is readily available with just a single app. These are default standards that did not exist in the 20th century, and we need to recognize them as a big change in the consumer environment. Now I would like to explain our Market Asia Business Strategy in light of this environment in Asia, the first part of our strategy is to contribute to nation-building. We are developing businesses that contribute to a nation-building and industrial developments in countries around the world. In Asia, we strive to create an ecofriendly society and address the dual challenges of meeting demand for electric power, telecommunications and logistics infrastructure, while pursuing sustainable economic growth. The second part is to create a consumer ecosystem. This is a business concept that aims to comprehensively and accurately respond to all consumer needs including food, fashion, housing, health, finance and information. In order to deliver what consumers want in a smart way as an entry point, it goes without saying that the key is mobile phone enable digital transformation, which is in the hands of the consumer. Until now, we have been providing medical services through our hospital business, and we are responding to full demand through a number of our food businesses. In addition, in the future, we will strive to take a comprehensive approach to providing good value products and services that enhance the quality of the lives of consumers. In that sense, creating a consumer ecosystem is a new challenge for us. We will realize this by taking full advantage of our comprehensive and synergized knowledge and experience that we have cultivated in each of our business domains. Now I would like to explain the consumer ecosystem, we envision in a little more detail. We consider the places and spaces where consumers transact as consumer touch points. These consumer touch points can be in the real-world or be online. This is the so-called online merge offline and online to offline world. The starting point for building a consumer ecosystem is to secure touch points that can reach as many consumers as possible. It will be inefficient for us to set up these consumer touch points from scratch in Asia, and we believe that the tie-ups with local growing companies are the shortcut for us. We will create a virtuous cycle of attracting more consumers by analyzing the various data obtained through these touch points, understanding consumer needs and procuring and providing a wide range of good value products and services through our global network. At the same time, we will aim to build a customer relationship management system, and that will help us identify new ways to ensure customer satisfaction. Our consumer ecosystem will organically link the 2 wheels of data utilization and provision of products and services through coexistence with consumers. This will help us to identify new ways of integrating our businesses and functions. In order to realize this consumer ecosystem, we established a consumer-centric business development unit, or CCBDU, for short, within the Asia Pacific business unit in April last year. The CCBDU fully utilizes the local depth of our 1,300 plus Asia Pacific business unit employees, including regionally higher staff, who have deep understanding of the local consumer market. This allows the CCBDU to combine its business knowledge in essential fields such as food and health, ICT and logistics know-how, so as to build our consumer ecosystem rooted in Asian needs, together with our partners. In addition, CCBDU will play a key role to introduce advanced business models from Europe and U.S. into Asian consumer ecosystem through collaboration with business units and head office and other regional business units. Our strategic alliance with CT Corp of Indonesia, which we announced on April 30, is our flagship project for creating our consumer ecosystem. At the end of last month, we successfully completed the subscription of convertible bonds worth JPY 100 billion. For an overview of CT Corp and our strategic alliance, please watch this video. [Presentation]

As you can see in the video, CT Corp. is a conglomerate that focuses on finance, media, entertainment and lifestyle, retail and property, and aims to become a leading company in the consumer ecosystem in Indonesia, which has 270 million people. We intend to build our consumer ecosystem by strengthening each of CT Corp.'s business domains, linking them organically. Based on the strategic alliance, we will procure a variety of products through our global network, and at the same time, expand the services provided by CT Corp by bringing in the best business models from around the world. In addition, we will introduce business management methods that we have developed over the years to CT Corp to promote modernization of the company's management practices. Through these efforts, we will contribute to enhancing CT Corp.'s corporate value with an eye to its future listing. In subscribing to the convertible bonds, we have also secured the rights necessary to realize the objectives that I have just described. We will be deeply involved in the management of the company, and we just dispatched the first group of seconded employees to Jakarta at the end of last week. In the future, we are also looking to expand this consumer ecosystem model to other countries in Asia. Here are examples of the value that we are trying to bring to Indonesian consumers with CT Corp. The first example I'd like to touch on is the area of food. The food culture in Indonesia is steadily becoming more diverse. As the number of food options has increased, the consumption of staple food, such as rice and instant noodles, of which Indonesia is the second highest consumer in the world, is on the decline, while the consumption of bread and pasta is on the rise. Changing lifestyles such as dining out and ready-to-eat meals are also beginning to permeate the market, especially in urban areas. CT Corp handles brands such as Wendy's and Coffee Bean through the introduction of new imported food and restaurant brands, and the development of ready-to-eat businesses. Together with CT Corp, we will capture food spending that is expected to grow from the current $200 billion to $420 billion in 2030. In order to support the diversification of food culture, it is also necessary to optimize and upgrade the supply chain. For example, the consumption of dairy products and fresh foods such as meat and fish is already increasing, but we recognize that the lack of necessary cold chain logistics is a major issue. The acceleration of e-commerce during COVID-19 has also highlighted the need to expand the last mile delivery network. Together with CT Corp, we will seek to overcome these challenges by contributing to the reform of Indonesia's distribution system by utilizing supply chain management knowledge and expertise that we have cultivated for major retailers in Japan. We will work with CT Corp to provide new media and enhance consumer marketing and entertainment to the younger generation, who will drive consumption in the future. CT Corp already has TV channels, such as CNN and CNBC, as well as [indiscernible], which is Asia's #1 portal site and similar to Yahoo! Japan. CT Corp is now also considering the introduction of new creative digital content and digital marketing to expand its reach to the younger generation. Unlike importing products, where the price difference is a hurdle, the cost of reproducing content is slow in the digital media field, making it easier to introduce advanced models from Europe and the U.S. We intend to support CT Corp. in-sourcing business models from Europe and United States. Lastly, we are also considering new collaborations in business areas where CT Corp is yet to establish a presence. For example, Indonesian consumers are becoming increasingly health-conscious due to COVID-19, and the establishment of a health care ecosystem in Indonesia, is one example of this. On a closing note, I would like to touch upon our image of quantitative targets for our consumer ecosystem. We're aiming for JPY 10 billion in profit after tax in 2025 and JPY 20 billion in 2030. The JPY 10 billion we expect to achieve in 2025 will be mainly from CT Corp related revenue. Toward 2030, in addition to the further growth and contribution we can expect from CT Corp, we would also like to add similar consumer ecosystem projects to achieve our quantitative target. Thank you for your attention.

Now we would like to move on to the Q&A session. [Operator Instructions] The first question, please.

Thank you very much for the explanation. I have just one question. When we think about Indonesia, JEC, it is something that we think about first. When it comes to CT Corp, which I do not have much knowledge about, but I want you to explain, when it comes to the younger generation, people in Indonesia, when they select the touch point of CT Corp, is it attractive? Can you give us some concrete examples? Will CT Corp be chosen by consumers and Indonesian people? Can you give us some hints about the touch point, please?

Yes, as I explained earlier, Indonesia, we have this population bonus, which is going to continue for some time. And from that point of view, the Z Generation or Y generation, these are people are going to lead the consumption in the country. So by capturing those people, we believe CT Corp can be grown. So the top of CT Corp, Mr. [indiscernible], is very conscious of that point. And so to capture this kind of generation, that kind of initiative have already started at CT Corp. For example, Detik is something that they are working on. And that is targeting the younger generation, and that is ongoing at the moment. And also Mr. [indiscernible] his eldest daughter, Ms. [indiscernible], is working to capture the younger generation. Moving forward, some initiatives to capture them. For example, cosmetics, Beauty in Asia is a brand that has been introduced. So there are a number of initiatives that are ongoing and we believe that will be the direction going forward. We would like to support sourcing for such means going forward. Thank you.

Thank you very much. That was very clear.

Next question.

Thank you very much. In Asia, you're deploying businesses, conventionally, you are -- you have been focused on upstream business, but now you are focusing on downstream businesses. And in these businesses, the investee company -- like in the investee company, you find and identify partners in the local market and collaborate with those players. Is that going to be the focus going forward. Well you have subscribed to JPY 100 billion in convertible bonds and you could spend much money. Are you going to capture the profit from those companies that you invested in? Is that the focus going forward? So JPY 100 billion subscription that you have made that decision, what was -- would be the benefit, or how you can capture the benefit of that investment? Can you elaborate more on how you can reflect and capture that benefit?

Well, in this business, the Asia, the growth is going to be significant, and that's what everyone agrees to. And in this context, like in healthcare, the consumer trends vary from country to country. Of course, there are common trends, but they are varied. And slightly less than JPY 700 million in ASEAN countries. The close to 40% is represented by Indonesia, so we have targeted at Indonesia. That's the first one. And also, the consumer touch points, if you are to build them from scratch, that will be very difficult for us. So in that sense, to some extent, we have to find partners with a certain level of consumer touch point already in place. So in that sense -- with regard to CT Corp, in that sense, there's a vision of President [indiscernible], which is in line with what we prefer and aim for. And there is a lot of agreement that we've found between them and us. So it took us several years, but we have decided to subscribe to JPY 100 billion in convertible bonds. And obviously, of course, as we spend our money of JPY 100 billion, we are expecting a commensurate return. And that is a commitment that we have and determination that we have in making this decision. Therefore, obviously, if you look at the consumers in Asia and as we build ecosystem, consumer ecosystem in Indonesia, of course, we will work with CT Corp to build that. And of course, we have to have the assumption that this will work and bear fruit. And we have to the distinguish between the areas that are common and those that are not similar. And with the common areas, we can create new businesses in other countries as well.

Thank you very much.

Would like to make the next question the last question.

Thank you very much for the explanation. I also have a question on CT Corp. For your company, the increase in profit related to CT Corp, does it come by increasing the profit of CT Corp, or by having joint ventures with CT Corp? Are you going to increase profit? Why did CT Corp choose Mitsui? The functions that you can provide to CT Corp, you talked about some contents to be provided, et cetera. But can you be more elaborative on that point, please?

Yes, of course. As for capturing profits and profit sources for the future. Of course, we have subscribed to convertible bonds of CT Corp, and after a while, these are strategic alliance, if it goes, as we had envisioned, then we would like to convert them to equities shares. And during the period of the strategic alliance, we would like to elevate the corporate value of CT Corp, and that is something that we'll be working on first. And after the conversion, of course, we will look for profit generation and contribution. When it comes to the peripheral businesses, that is something that we will be focusing on as well. And with CT Corp and Mitsui, there may be businesses that CT Corp should have the share, 100% or maybe there may be other businesses or projects in which we need to invite third parties to participate. In other words, we need to be very flexible with each project and make decisions accordingly. But first of all, we will work on elevating the corporate value of CT Corp. CT Corp and Mitsui have joined in a strategic alliance. And as I mentioned earlier, I think this is a result of 4 to 5 years of working together with CT Corp and we have found that the business models of the West, for example, or products or brands, they can be offered to CT Corp from Mitsui. And Mr. [indiscernible] had developed this conglomerate on his own in just one generation, and he wants to shift CT Corp to a continuous conglomerate business entity. And he is expecting that Mitsui will be able to offer and contribute with its global development abilities. And CT Corp, in the 20 to 30 years of history, it's a relatively young conglomerate. And from that point of view, so dealing with a foreign affiliated company, their perspective is different from an old or extensive conglomerate in that sense.

Thank you very much for the explanation.

So this will conclude the Q&A session. Thank you very much, Mr. Nagatomi. This concludes all the scheduled sessions for today. Once again, we request that you please fill in the questionnaire. The pre issued URL will allow you to fill in the questionnaire. We would like to utilize your feedback to improve future Investor Day events. Once again, we seek your cooperation. One last note. On the 3rd of December, we will be hosting Mitsui & Company's ESG Day 2021. We will, in the future, notify you of the details. We look forward to your participation. On that note, this concludes Mitsui & Company's Investor Day 2021. We would like to thank you for your attendance and participation today. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]