Press ReleasesConclusion of a Strategic Partnership Agreement for an Afforestation Project in Indonesia

Marubeni Corporation (President and CEO: Masumi Kakinoki; Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter "Marubeni") and Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Toru Nozawa; Head Office:Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter "Nippon Paper Industries") have concluded a Strategic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter "this agreement") aiming to increase forest growing stock (*1), through technical guidance from Nippon Paper Industries, at a plantation company in the Republic of Indonesia (hereinafter "Indonesia"), PT. Musi Hutan Persada (hereinafter "MHP"), in which Marubeni has a 100% stake.

Under the terms of this agreement, Marubeni will allow technical employees from Nippon Paper Industries to work at MHP from 2022, with the aim of improving forest growing stock per unit area through Nippon Paper Industries' technical expertise in tree breeding and afforestation operations. Nippon Paper Industries aims to expand its procurement of sustainable forest resources in Southeast Asia, by improving forest growing stock through its technical guidance.

Marubeni owns plantation forests in Indonesia and Australia, which currently cover approximately 130,000 hectares (total project area: approximately 290,000 hectares, as of February 2022), and is committed to "promoting sustainable forest management" through the continuous and stable supply of wood resources used as raw materials for papermaking. In addition, in order to make medium- and long-term contributions to climate change countermeasures, Marubeni has formulated the "Long-Term Vision for Climate Change", and as part of this vision, has set a goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Marubeni opens the way to a sustainable future through the power of people and forests by increasing the environmental and economic value of forest resources, including the expansion of CO2 fixation in plantation forests.

Nippon Paper Industries has long been developing technologies for breeding and propagating forest trees in its own forests in Japan and overseas (approximately 160,000 hectares, as of December 2021), and is using its proprietary technologies to increase forest reserves, thereby improving forest CO2 fixation efficiency (*2). Nippon Paper Industries plans to strengthen its business foundation through the sustainable forest management of its own forests, and at the same time, it also aims to secure the stability of resources by contributing to productivity improvement in the forests of other companies, through its proprietary technologies. As a "comprehensive biomass company shaping the future with trees", Nippon Paper Industries is working to maximize the value of forests and expand biomass products in order to achieve sustainable growth and respond to social issues such as climate change.

Marubeni and Nippon Paper Industries aim to increase forest growing stock in MHP under this agreement, as the importance of forests is being reaffirmed around the world.

(*1) Forest growing stock：Volume of tree trunk consisting of forests

(*2) CO2 fixation efficiency：CO2 fixation per unit area

＜About MHP＞

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