Trust Recovery Growth Vitalization - Marubeni

Interview with the President and CEO
✔ Food Distribution
Marubeni decided to subscribe in part to a private placement of shares by
Daiei, a major Japanese food retailer. Marubeni will assist Daiei by supplying
merchandise attuned to customer needs and will take part in joint
development projects. In addition, leveraging its strengths as a general
trading company, Marubeni will forge ties with influential partners in a
variety of fields to attract high-quality tenants,
achieve greater distribution efficiency, and
reconfigure information systems, for example.
All support will aid Daiei’s rehabilitation.
March 7, 2005 press conference announcing support for Daiei
largest volumes of soybeans and wheat among Japanese trading companies. In midstream fields,
Marubeni has Nacx Nakamura Corporation and Yamaboshiya Co., Ltd., two prominent wholesalers.
In downstream areas, amid increasingly diverse consumer needs, we have already invested in The
Maruetsu, Inc. and Tobu Store Co., Ltd. The sheer volume of information from retail spaces on the
scale made possible through Daiei will emerge as an essential asset in helping to fully leverage
Marubeni’s upstream and midstream capabilities. Moreover, stronger buying power will lead to
lower distribution costs, enabling us to develop a structure for providing customers with better
products at a lower cost.
In paper and pulp, we have completely withdrawn from the Chandra Asri Project, acquiring
instead business rights to P.T. Mushi Pulp in Indonesia. This move positions Marubeni to respond to
projected growth in demand in Asia with an integrated production and supply framework encompassing
everything from afforestation to pulp operations. As a result, we have a bi-polar structure with
bases situated in North America, centered on Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd., and Asia that will
enable us to reinforce the value chain in this field, which we believe will lead to more dynamic and
expansive pulp operations. Natural resource development, meanwhile, will see us continue efforts
begun three years ago to acquire additional equity stakes and other assets in this area.
In energy-related operations, in the past fiscal year, we acquired additional oil and gas assets
in U.K. waters in the North Sea, and increased metal and mineral resource-related investment in
mines in Australia and elsewhere. These investments, in fact, became a major driver behind
earnings during the past year. Natural resource development is a priority field, one that we plan to
continue actively investing in.