MOU with Hyakujushi Bank and Cofinancing for a Local SME
Supporting SMEs in Japan's Setouchi Area for Funding Overseas Business Activities

• Region: Others
• Manufacturing and Services
• Mid-tier Enterprises and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises(SMEs)
• Overseas Investment Loans

1. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC; Governor: Hiroshi Okuda) signed today a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on operational cooperation with The Hyakujushi Bank, Ltd. (114th Bank; Head Office: Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture) for the purpose of supporting overseas business activities of Japanese companies, especially mid-tier enterprises as well as small and medium enterprises (collectively “SMEs”); exchanging information on the investment climate in overseas countries; and expanding cofinancing for them. This is the first MOU on operational cooperation JBIC has signed with a Japanese local financial institution headquartered on Shikoku Island.
    
2. In conjunction with this MOU, JBIC signed a loan agreement amounting up to 85 million yen (JBIC portion) with Asahi Switchgear Products Ltd., an Indian subsidiary of HIROSE Corporation (Representative Director: Masakazu Okimoto), for cofinancing the manufacturing and sales business of switchgear panels with the 114th Bank. The overall cofinancing amounts to 135 million yen.
    
3. In the Setouchi area, where the 114th Bank has its main business base, an increasing number of companies, especially SMEs, are faced with the need to expand their operations overseas, in view of the recent economic growth in emerging market countries. JBIC also signed a loan agreement in August this year with an Indian subsidiary of Ryonan Electric Corporation (Ryonan Electric), an SME in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, for cofinancing the manufacturing and sales business of automobile parts with the 114th Bank.¹
    
4. Given these developments, the 114th Bank is currently strengthening its institutional setup to support overseas business expansion for its clients. This MOU is thus intended to support the overseas business deployment of Japanese companies located in the Setouchi area in close cooperation between JBIC and the 114th Bank. 
    
5. JBIC will continue to develop and improve the overseas business activities of Japanese companies, including SMEs, by collaborating with Japanese local financial institutions.
   
    

Note

1. *1 This loan was extended to RYONAN ELECTRIC INDIA PVT. LTD., an Indian subsidiary of Ryonan Electric (President and Representative Director: Ikuya Kojima) to finance the manufacturing and sales of automobile parts, which was Ryonan Electric’s first project for expanding business into India. JBIC provided a loan amounting up to 27.5 million yen (JBIC portion), which brought the overall cofinancing amount to 55 million yen.