Let me begin by offering my sincere thanks for your generous support of “for Startups, Inc”.
The reason why we are supporting startups as part of our "Growth Industry Support Business" is because of our desire to leave a prosperous Japan to the next generation.
I frequently have the opportunity to talk with Japanese students, and I often hear them say, "I am going to go abroad because there is no hope in Japan." Naturally, I believe that choosing to go abroad can be a good decision. However, I have decided that instead of leaving my family, relatives, and friends, along with their families, behind in Japan to live abroad, I will devote my life, together with my stakeholders, to making Japan a prosperous country again. A country that the young people of the next generation can be proud to talk about.
In the past, Japan was a nation of entrepreneurs with great ambitions who gathered together and created a group of companies that brought innovation to the world, so much so that the phrase "Japan as No.1" was coined. Recently, however, Japan's international competitiveness has declined significantly*1, and although it ranks third in GDP, its average wage ranks 26th among OECD countries*2, even lower than that of its neighbor South Korea.
*1 : Ranked 1st in 1992, 35th in 2023 *IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2023
*2 : OECD (2022), "Average annual wages".
One factor is said to be the existence of an ecosystem where competitive startups and emerging companies are born. In the U.S., entrepreneurship is a familiar concept, and there is a constant flow of human and financial resources to startups and emerging companies.
As a result, startups such as GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft), Tesla, NVIDIA, and SpaceX continue to be born and are the driving force behind the country's continued economic growth. The competition between large companies and startups for the best talent has also created a virtuous cycle of higher wages.
Some countries have begun to provide government support for the creation of startup ecosystems, for example, France and South Korea are incorporating startup support into their national strategies. Japan is also taking advantage of this opportunity, albeit belatedly.
In 2022, the Japanese government declared "the first year of startup creation," and in June 2022, startup development was included in the "Grand Policy of Japan," and in November 2022, the "Five-Year Startup Development Plan" was formulated and announced. While support for startups has become a national policy, we are also working to grow our existing businesses and expand our business domain.
While concentrating our resources in the area of human resource support for startups, we will strongly promote the creation of synergies through open innovation centered on STARTUP DB, and take on the challenge of creating a positive future for the market, society, and industry.
I humbly request the continued support of all our stakeholders .