This month, Japanese Foreign Minister Ms.Yoko Kamikawa visited Turkiye as part of her visit to Western countries. Despite her busy schedule, the lunch meeting had been arranged with expatriate representatives of Japanese companies who are doing business in Turkiye. Each participating company had an opportunity to explain the status of their activities in Turkiye, and we reported on the status of our business activities as follows. After opening an office in 2017 and changed to a local subsidiary in 2019, and our first FSRU was chartered out to BOTAS, the national natural gas company. Since then, we have been constantly involved in the BOTAS’s FSRU-related business, and I reported that the LNG to Powership business with Karadeniz Holding who is world’s only operator of power generation ships, is progressing smoothly.

In addition, although we are a transporting company by ship, we are strengthening our business by utilizing “ships that do not move” and “ships do not transport”, and MOL aimd to become a social infrastructure company centered on shipping and ships. MOL also intend to invest in upstream sectors such as green ammonia production, with the aim of achieving zero emissions in 2050, which is the most important step in making marine fuel green.

Furthermore, in relation to Ukraine, which Minister Kamikawa visited, I reported that we are financially supporting Turkish companies and they are transporting agricultural products from Ukraine.

Minister Kamikawa explained the importance of cooperation in other countries like Africa in collaboration with Turkish companies, and pointed out the importance of further increasing businesses such as our power-generating ship business.

Opportunities for such meeting are often very limited and short due to their busy schedules, but on this occasion, nearly two hours were allotted for this lunch. This Minister’s visit lasted for 13 days from January 5th, and included visits to various European countries, including Ukraine, as well as the United States and Canada. The fact that she came to Turkiye as her last country to visit is a great encouragement to those working in Turkiye, and I would like to thank you for taking out almost two full days in Ankara during her busy schedule. In addition to meeting with high official like President, she also visited Ataturk's Mausoleum and Ankara University. Minister's visit to Turkiye was a major event marking the beginning of the year marking the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Although our company is limited in what we can do, we are actively working to contribute to strengthening Japan-Turkiye relations, and I felt stronger to realize to collaborate with Turkish companies in third countries, which Minister Kimikawa suggested to us.

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