Masahiko Kato0:04
Can I start? Okay. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Masahiko Kato, COO of Mizuho Bank. This is a Japanese bank. I'm grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you today. This is my third time to participate in the FII, and each time I feel the positive change in this country. Mizuho has been doing business in Saudi Arabia for over 60 years, and I'm very proud to be a part of this transformation. In this speech, I would like to talk about the role that Japanese financial institutions should play in Saudi Arabia. Recent Saudi transformation such as NEOM, Red Sea project, KAFD area in Riyadh are very remarkable. Saudi Arabia has a long and historical relationship with Japan in the energy sector. Japanese oil imports from Saudi Arabia are around one third of total volume. I believe our cooperation is expected to expand significantly in the future. The first point is financing the transformation. International financing from outside Saudi Arabia will be a key factor for Saudi Vision 2030. At Mizuho, we are taking the opening of new liquidity for the kingdom very seriously as we recognize its importance in support of this initiative. Mizuho arranged a lot of non-deal roadshows for the kingdom. For example, Mizuho arranged the PIF Governor's trip to Japan for introduction to Japanese investors and potential business partners last year, as well as the trip to Saudi Ministry of Investment and related government entities. Also, in June this year, Mizuho was directed to host PIF in Tokyo for a seminar with Japanese bond investors. Over 50 Japanese companies attended the seminar, mainly from the financial sector, which indicates the high interest in Saudi Arabia. Through those activities, Mizuho has been working closely with such entities for securing potential investors in Japan and other Asian countries. We have established relationships with over 1,000 financial institutions in Asia and have supported over 350 billion dollars to Saudi Arabia since 2015. Last year, Mizuho arranged various capital market transactions across the government, sovereign wealth fund, government-related entities, and financial institutions. We continue our contribution of inviting Japanese investors to contribute to Saudi Vision 2030. The second key area is collaboration in the energy sectors. Japan has strong ties to the kingdom in the energy sector with oil imports from Saudi Arabia. However, the importance of clean energy including hydrogen has been increasing recently. Japan is dependent on energy imports but has strengths from upstream to downstream areas such as CCS, transportation, mobility, and clean steel. Green hydrogen in Saudi Arabia has strong potential because of the abundant renewable energy, and Mizuho intends to actively support this initiative. To accelerate the hydrogen business, this year Mizuho has set a target of providing 30.5 billion US dollars in hydrogen-related finance by 2030. Last year, we participated in the NEOM green ammonia project in Saudi Arabia as a tier one lender. We are also playing an advisory role in decarbonization areas such as Aramco's CCS project and Saudi Arabia's solar energy project. We would like to contribute to the establishment of the hydrogen supply chain including through the provision of technology. The third key area is collaboration in cutting-edge fields with a focus on startups. The Japanese government is focused on supporting startup businesses. The Japanese government declared a plan for increasing investment in startups to 67 billion US dollars by 2027. Japanese startups have high potential for global growth because of their world-leading technology capabilities such as decarbonization, healthcare, entertainment, space, and robotics. Mizuho has over 4,000 relationships with Japanese startups, the largest among Japanese financial institutions. We have introduced promising companies to Saudi Arabia last year, and we would like to continue to support those activities. We would like to support Saudi Arabia's business transformation. Mizuho established the Saudi Arabia company in 2009, which has been operating as an investment bank in Saudi Arabia. We were the first Japanese bank to have a local setup in Saudi Arabia. In order to accelerate this movement, we will establish a regional headquarters in KAFD, Riyadh, the first Asian bank to establish in Saudi Arabia. We will support the transformation of Saudi companies by working more closely from Riyadh. Next year, Saudi Arabia and Japan will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. I'm confident that the ties between the two countries will continue to strengthen. As a banker, it's a great pleasure to be involved during times of such transformative change. I promise all of you that we are going to make a great difference as Saudi's best partner in order to create a prosperous future. Thank you very much for your attention.
