Day 19: Presentations!

Today was a quiet day, all inside Mitsui's temporary head office. As such, sadly there are no photos of today - there really wasn't anything to see today. However, I can show you the video of the Robot Restaurant from last night:

Robot Restaurant Show Clips

Our first presentation was with the Energy Business Unit. We had an interesting discussion regarding Mitsui's investments in Coal and Oil, with a growing focus on Gas as the future fossil fuels. It was also mentioned that whilst renewable technologies are increasing, the demand for cheap, reliable energy in the developing world will require fossil fuels and gas is the cleanest alternative. We also talked about Japan's future power make up as since 2011, no nuclear power plant has generated power for the country. It will also be extremely difficult in the coming years as nuclear power plants become decommissioned due to their advanced age to provide enough electricity for Japan. This is why gas is becoming increasingly popular in Japan.

Our next presentation was the Mineral and Metal Resources Business Sector. In this area we discussed the iron ore and coal aspects of the business, which revolved around how Mitsui organises the logistics to allow for trading of mineral resources into Asian markets. It was interesting to note that Australian coal is prized for use in Metallurgical areas because of its purity however, is only used as a thermal power source when in close proximity to the location of use, for cost reasons. As such, whilst we dominate Japanese and Chinese markets, India does not import much Australian coal for thermal use.

The third and fourth presentations were about the Medical Healthcare Business. This is a relatively new area for Mitsui. Their investments in Private Hospitals and Pharmaceuticals is to respond to the ageing population in Asian areas, as well as providing ways to increase market access for smaller pharmaceutical companies to develop technologies in the industry. 

Our final presentation was about the Woodchip Industry. This presentation was particularly interesting as this is one of the few business areas where Mitsui is owner of the company in its entirety. Mitusi tends to be an investment firm which uses its contacts to also operate as a trading partner and intermediary. However, for some of the projects (all of which are in Australia mind you), Mitsui is the entire owner, meaning they are in charge of management. Given that Mitsui rotates its employees through different areas, the main challenge is the transfer of knowledge between employees, particularly when there is limited experience in this form of company work.

Tomorrow starts our last weekend. We will be spending it with the Mitsui Prospective Employees learning what a young Japanese person does on a Tokyo weekend. It's very exciting.