Keidanren taps Sumitomo Chemical`s Yonekura as new chairman

TOKYO, Jan. 27 Kyodo -
The Japan Business Federation, the nation's most influential business lobby,
said Wednesday it will appoint as its next chief Sumitomo Chemical Co. Chairman
Hiromasa Yonekura, who has an extensive background in international business
affairs.
Yonekura, 72, is currently the chairman of the federation's Board of
Councillors, the No. 2 post in the group better known as Nippon Keidanren.
He will assume the chairmanship at the group's general meeting in late May to
succeed Fujio Mitarai. The customary term of a Keidanren chief in recent years
has been four years.
''He is a person with rich international experience, which is required in the
current age,'' Mitarai told reporters, when asked about the reasons for the
selection. He added Yonekura would be good at forming deeper ties with other
advanced economies as well as with neighboring Asian economies.
Yonekura, who was in Davos, Switzerland, to attend an annual meeting of the
World Economic Forum told reporters, told reporters, ''I will strive to realize
the growth strategy for Japan (which Keidanren has set recently).''
He also said Keidanren will extend donations to political parties that share
interests with the group. ''We will make contributions on the basis of
policies,'' he said.
At Sumitomo Chemical, Yonekura expanded the company's overseas business by
building major petrochemical plants in Singapore and Saudi Arabia. He has also
worked in the United States and cultivated close ties with U.S. business
communities, most recently as chairman of the Japan-U.S. Business Council.
The appointment also comes at a difficult time as Japanese companies continue
to struggle to return to profitability following the severe fallout from an
economic recession.
''The Japanese economy has emerged from the bottom but conditions are still
uncertain,'' Mitarai, the 74-year-old chairman of Canon Inc., said. ''I hope
(Yonekura) will work for the economy's self-sustaining recovery.''
Sumitomo Chemical fell into the red with a group net loss of 59.16 billion yen
in fiscal 2008 but expects to return to profitability during the current
business year through March.
As the new chairman, Yonekura will also be tasked with forging ties with the
new government led by the Democratic Party of Japan since the relationship
between the two sides is still believed to be in the embryonic stage. The
business lobby traditionally had close connections with previous governments
led by the Liberal Democratic Party.
The chemical maker is a key part of the Sumitomo group that originated from the
Sumitomo ''zaibatsu'' business conglomerate in the prewar period. Appointing a
leader from such an industrial conglomerate will be a first for the business
lobby.
At Keidanren, Yonekura also served as vice chairman from 2004 to 2008.
He joined Sumitomo Chemical in 1960 after graduating from the University of
Tokyo and was appointed company president in 2000. He became chairman last
April.
From the 1970s to 1980s, Yonekura took part in building a petrochemical complex
in Singapore and later invested 1 trillion yen in a project to build a
petrochemical plant with the world's largest class production capacity in
western Saudi Arabia with Saudi Arabian Oil.
He also planned to merge Sumitomo Chemical with Mitsui Chemicals Inc. in 2000,
although talks broke down due to differences over the integration ratio three
years later.
==Kyodo