Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Board of Directors

• Opinions were actively exchanged during the preliminary briefings held in conjunction with Board meetings, and as such, the sessions were assessed to be extremely valuable.
• Discussions during the Board meetings were assessed to have become more substantial than before, but at the same time, there was feedback suggesting that additional information and insights from other directors who did not attend the preliminary session would have been useful and that more clarification is needed regarding which points are to be discussed during the bord meeting.
• Alongside the continued practice of expanded free discussions introduced in the previous fiscal year and the executive division reports and continual Board discussions, the on-site visits to each business were assessed to be useful in better understanding how business is being carried out.
• The balance between in-person and online Board meetings in the post-COVID era, as well as efforts to go paperless, were assessed to be contributing to really effective Board management.
• To allocate enough time for discussions on important future topics, it was suggested that free discussion time be further utilized and that the timely sharing of information needs to be continued going forward.

The following are the topics that the Company’s directors believe management ought to start or continue, discussing in more depth, as well as initiatives that might be effective in enabling the Board to function better.
The Company will bear these items in mind and continue to take measures to enhance the Board’s effectiveness.