Let me begin by offering my sincere thanks for your generous support of for Startups, Inc.
for Startups, Inc. was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market on March 13, 2020, under the stock code 7089. (It is currently listed on the Growth Market.)
For several decades starting around 1990, the United States and China became increasingly powerful as they kept funneling their human and financial resources into growth industry sectors, creating the world's leading entrepreneurs and tech companies, including the GAFAM companies in the U.S. (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft) and the BAT companies in China (Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent). Meanwhile, Japan has fallen far behind the U.S. and China in terms of support for its growth industry sectors. As a result, entrepreneurs are unable to launch new companies that can compete well on the world stage, and the Japanese standard of living and GDP are reportedly trending lower.
In the past, Japan had funneled its human and financial resources into areas that were growth industry sectors in the postwar era, led by entrepreneurs and businessmen who pursued the challenge of worldwide success, and the Japanese economy achieved international dominance as a result. We at for Startups, Inc. are taking on the challenge of building social systems that focus human resources and funding in growth industries, as was the case during the high-speed growth era, in order to reignite growth in Japan. It takes people working together to develop a business, and it takes businesses working together to develop a country. This is an equation that always holds true. Even if people have the kinds of new ideas and businesses that could change the world, they will never be able to accomplish it alone. In the hot growth areas of AI and robotics as well, there is a need for people to do the work of design and engineering.
For the regrowth of Japan, we need to work on creating businesses with the infinite potential of human beings. Our company's mission is to optimize these endeavors. Since the founding of the Company in September 2016, we have been engaged in providing support services to growth industries, with a focus on human capital, in line with the for Startups vision of developing industries, businesses, services, and people to support the growth of Japan.
We have taken the opportunity provided by the listing of the Company to expand our portfolio to achieve further growth of existing businesses and to take on the challenge of new businesses. As a company itself able to achieve sustainable growth, for Startups remains committed to providing support for the reignition of Japanese growth. I humbly request the continued support of all our stakeholders as we move forward with our plans to achieve this.
