Sojitz Corporation and Osaka Gas Co., Ltd.’s joint venture company Sojitz Osaka Gas Energy Company Ltd. has concluded a supply agreement on March 4th, 2021 with Acecook Co., Ltd.’s (“ACJ”) subsidiary, Acecook Vietnam Joint Stock Company (“ACV”), to provide natural gas to ACV’s food plants. SOGEC is concentrating its efforts on fuel switching from coal to natural gas, and this project marks the company’s first time supplying natural gas to an individual business. This natural gas supply business will be a subsidized project under Japan’s Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) scheme. Additionally, this project will be undertaken in cooperation with the governments of Vietnam and Japan. In partnership with Osaka and Ho Chi Minh City, ACV and SOGEC participated in a feasibility study for reducing CO2 in food plants prior to replacing the coal-fired steam boilers at two of ACV’s plants with highly-efficient gas-fired steam boilers that use natural gas with the objective of improving the plants’ work environment and reducing CO2emissions.