• News Release
• July 4, 2000
• Development Bank of Japan

Establishment of the Development Bank of Japan

I am pleased to announce the establishment today of the Development Bank of Japan. Masami Kogayu is the Bankﾕs governor, and its headquarters are located at Otemachi 1-9-1, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.

The Development Bank of Japan originated in a Cabinet decision of September 1997 to streamline Japanﾕs special corporations. On June 4, 1999, the Diet passed The Development Bank of Japan Law, which provided for the establishment of a new bank to take over the functions of the Japan Development Bank and the Hokkaido-Tohoku Development Finance Public Corporation.

Created to contribute from the financial side to the implementation of economic and social policy in Japan, the Development Bank of Japan provides long-term financing and other services that supplement and encourage those provided by ordinary financial institutions. Priority is placed on three objectives that were also of central importance to its predecessor institutions:

• The energy and sustainable development of the economy and society;
• The realization of affluent national life;
• The independent development of local economies.

One important result of the Bankﾕs establishment is the integration of skills acquired over the years by the Japan Development Bank and the Hokkaido-Tohoku Development Finance Public Corporation, including broad-ranging, policy-based financing skills formulated from a national perspective and more specific skills pertaining to regional development. This makes it possible for the Bank to provide a more effective system for the advancement of national policy.

In light of its conception as a means of streamlining the countryﾕs special corporations, the Bank represents an effort to prioritize functions, reduce the number of regular directors, and eliminate redundant divisions through the consolidation of the two institutions.

I hope that the Development Bank of Japan may benefit from the same encouragement and support that have long been enjoyed by the Japan Development Bank and Hokkaido-Tohoku Development Finance Public Corporation.