Sumitomo Corporation invited the media, including news reporters, to a seminar on its "2009 Economic Outlook" on December 17ｔｈ. Mr. Soichi Okuda, chief economist at Sumitomo Shoji Research Institute, served as lecturer at the seminar. He is a specialist, having worked as an economist focusing on economic forecasts and industry analysis for 20 years.

A few days left to the year-end, this year was characterized by the so-called once-in-100 year global recession that causes unease among the public. Based on circumstances that are changing bewilderingly from day to day, the prospect for the upcoming 2009 economic environment was analyzed and plainly explained from a professional perspective.

Particularly, a bold forecast was presented regarding the world economic climate and industry trend, with a good understanding of key points such as the future of the Obama administration as well as the subprime mortgage crisis, Lehman shock, and turbulent resource prices that had triggered the world economy recession.

This seminar on economic outlook, the 3rd in the series, attracted more journalists than ever because of the many topical factors. The participants asked wide-ranging questions derived from the presentation, including "What futures do trading companies have?" and "What will happen to commodity prices for other than crude oil?"