Singapore, September 8, 2025 — Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), a global leader in impact investing and one of the pioneers of the Orange Movement™, celebrated the first Orange Bond issued in Japan and the world’s first Orange Bond issued by a non-financial corporate, ITOCHU Corporation. The issuance represents a historic step in mobilizing capital for gender equality and women’s empowerment, while reinforcing ITOCHU’s commitment to embedding gender-lens finance into its corporate strategy and serving as a model for others globally.

ITOCHU’s Orange Bond, amounting to JP¥ 15.2 billion (~US $102 million) with a three-year maturity, has Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. as its structuring agent and is dedicated to financing projects that advance gender equality and women’s empowerment across the company’s operations and value chain. Proceeds will be directed toward purchasing products from companies providing vocational training for women, building inclusive workplaces, supporting company employees through fertility treatment costs to encourage overseas assignments, as well as operating costs for facilities providing perinatal healthcare.

The bond will also strengthen women-led and women-focused enterprises in ITOCHU’s supply chain and expand partnerships with companies providing services and products that promote gender equality, such as fem-tech enterprises.

IIX provided an independent Second-Party Opinion affirming that ITOCHU’s Orange Bond framework is fully aligned with the Orange Bond Principles™, which aim to empower women at all levels, from stronger representation of women in senior leadership positions to gender-equal workplace practices to gender-transformative global supply chains reaching women at the last mile.

“We are honored to work with ITOCHU as the first company in Japan to issue an Orange Bond,” said Natasha Garcha, Senior Director of Innovative Finance at IIX. “Sustainability in Asia is at the forefront of global change, and our work with ITOCHU is another pioneering step toward building more inclusive and resilient markets.”

ITOCHU’s Orange Bond issuance sets a powerful precedent for other corporates in and beyond Japan to redesign the ways gender-equality can build stronger businesses and opens a new chapter for gender-lens investing and sustainable finance worldwide.

The issuance also strengthens the global Orange Movement, as IIX and the movement’s supporters work to unlock capital for women, advance gender equality, and redefine the role of finance in creating an inclusive and sustainable future.