The Group communicates with stakeholders actively through a variety of methods and opportunities. We believe that this effort contributes to the sustainable growth of the Group and increases corporate value.

A briefing was given to securities analysts and investors in October 2023 on the organic chemicals business. The visitors were given a presentation covering an overview of the plant and its business and research. Participants from Shin-Etsu Chemical included the plant manager, the director of the Specialty Chemicals Research Center, and the general managers of the Cellulose, Fine Chemicals, and Public Relations departments. For the securities analysts and investors who attended the event, it was a good opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Shin-Etsu Chemical and its high productivity, its advances in automation, and the diverse product foundation supporting its revenue structure, including PVC, semiconductor silicon, and silicones.

From September to October 2023, President Saitoh visited five Shin-Etsu Chemical sites: Gunma Complex, Takefu Plant, Kashima Plant, Naoetsu Plant, and Shin-Etsu Handotai’s Shirakawa Plant. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was his first visit in four years. The Q&A session with President Saitoh covered a wide range of topics, including the crisis management skills he learned under the former Chairman Kanagawa, overseas production, and the competitive nature of research and development in the global market. The visit offered a meaningful opportunity for the president and on-site employees to discuss topics such as how to generate profits in the face of rising raw material prices and how to train and promote women to managerial and executive positions.

Shin-Etsu Chemical exhibited at the 41st Motor Technology Expo, TECHNO-FRONTIER 2023, held at Tokyo Big Sight in July 2023. This exhibition, one of Asia's largest, is where the latest products, technologies, and solutions are introduced to motor designers and production engineers of automotive and consumer electronics manufacturers, among others. This year marked Shin-Etsu Chemical's 33rd time exhibiting at the event.

This year's exhibition was full of energy because it was the first one held since the Japanese government reclassified COVID-19 as "category 5," the same as seasonal influenza. At our booth, we emphasized that rare earth magnets are making a significant contribution to a sustainable society as a resource recycling product.

We also unveiled our new H-grain boundary diffusion/E-grain boundary diffusion series, the next evolutionary stage of our grain boundary diffusion method, which has already achieved high performance while reducing the amount of heavy rare earth used. Our booth also attracted a lot of attention with a variety of products to meet the needs of motor manufacturers, such as heavy rare earth-free magnets, segmented magnets, and Halbach array magnets. Visitors to the booth asked a lot of questions about raw material procurement and recycling, and it was a good opportunity for them to understand the unique characteristics of our magnets, which are achieved through integrated production starting from raw materials.