TOHRU TSUJI

THE PHILIPPINES-JAPAN SOCIETY 

By unanimous resolution of the Board of Trustees

proudly confers upon

TOHRU TSUJI

the

MEDAL OF MERIT

For Outstanding Achievement in the Promotion of
Philippines-Japan Relations

TOHRU TSUJI was born on February 10, 1939 in Oita, Japan.  He graduated from the University of Tokyo with a degree in Law in 1961 and joined Marubeni-Iida Co., Ltd. immediately upon graduation.  In 1972, the company was renamed Marubeni Corporation.

In 1986, Mr. Tsuji became the General Manager of the Pulp Department of Marubeni Corporation, rising to head the Forest Products Division in April 1991.  In June of the same year, he was appointed Director of Marubeni Corporation and by 1995, he was overseeing the broad based Forest Products & General Merchandise Group, concurrently serving as its Deputy Executive Officer and the company-wide Managing Director.

He was further elevated to Executive Officer of the Construction, Forest Products & General Merchandise Group in 1996, before assuming the crucial post of Senior Managing Director in 1997.  In April 1999, Tohru Tsuji was named President and CEO of Marubeni Corporation – a global leader of business and economic development, a post he held until 2003 when he was named Chairman.  In 2008 his Chairmanship ended and he was named Senior Corporate Advisor; four years thereafter, in April 2012, he became Honorary Corporate Adviser of Marubeni, a role he continues to perform to date.

Outside of Marubeni, Mr. Tsuji also served as an independent director in the boards of some of the largest Japanese companies, including Sekisui Chemicals, Konica-Minolta Holdings and Taisei Corporation.  In addition, he is a leading official of the Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry who has actively held Chairmanships and key roles in several bilateral economic committees between Japan and the Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand.

Throughout his long and distinguished corporate career and civic leadership, Mr. Tsuji was a strong proponent of Japan-Philippines partnerships.  It was during his tenure as President-CEO of Marubeni when the US$1.2 Billion San Roque Hydroelectric Power Plant was commissioned in 2003, one of the largest, fully integrated hydroelectric power complexes in Southeast Asia with an installed capacity of 345 MW.  With over a century of doing business in the Philippines, Marubeni Corporation has built a dominant position in the power industry currently owning 3,540 MW of private investments in electricity generation assets accounting for approximately 22% of the country’s total supply of electric power.

It was also during the term of Mr. Tsuji that Marubeni co-invested with the Alsons Group in the Lima Technology Center in Batangas, today one of the country’s largest and most successful industrial parks where many major Japanese and other multinational companies have poured massive investments in establishing and locating sprawling manufacturing facilities, promoting exports and creating employment opportunities.

From 2003 to 2012, Mr. Tsuji was co-Chairman of the Japan-Philippines Economic Cooperation Committee, and chaired the 26th Joint Annual Meeting of the Economic Cooperation Committees of the two countries held in Tokyo in 2006.  He was the co-Chairman of the 27th annual joint meeting held in Manila in 2007.  His able chairmanship of these meetings resulted in stronger bilateral business ties and the sustained growth of Japanese investments in the Philippines.

Therefore, in recognition and deep appreciation of his notable achievements in forging closer economic and business relations between the Philippines and Japan, as well as his long, dedicated service as co-Chairman of the Japan-Philippines Economic Cooperation Committee, the counterpart organization the Philippines-Japan Economic Cooperation Committee (PHILJEC), the PHILIPPINES-JAPAN SOCIETY hereby confers upon MR. TOHRU TUSJI the 35th Philippines-Japan Society Medal of Merit, the highest award within its gift to convey.

Given this 26th day of July in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand Thirteen, in Makati City, Philippines on the occasion of the 35th Philippines-Japan Friendship Celebration and the 41st year of the Philippines-Japan Society.

FRANCIS C. LAUREL
President

Attest:

BENJAMIN C. LAUREL
Corporate Secretary