The Higo Bank, Ltd

The Higo Bank is a regional bank whose main business base is Kumamoto Prefecture in central Kyushu. Possessing a varied sweep of natural beauty, including the volcano Mt. Aso, which boasts the world’s largest caldera, and the scenic Amakusa area with its 200 islands of widely varying sizes, the prefecture is home to thriving agricultural, forestry, and fi sheries industries. In recent years, Kumamoto Prefecture has become a center for leading-edge industries, notably semiconductors, for which it has been called “Japan’s Silicon Valley.” The number of high-tech companies setting up shop in Kumamoto is still on the increase, and is expected to contribute greatly to the area’s development in the near future. The center of Kumamoto city has also been seeing the successive start-ups of a number of redevelopment projects, and accelerating progress is being made in bolstering the city’s transport infrastructure. Roughly half of the extension of the Shinkansen Line from Fukuoka down the west coast of Kyushu to Kagoshima has been completed, and the construction of a modern road traffi c network, principally to feed the Kyushu Expressway is making progress. These conditions offer many opportunities to vitalize the region by cultivating small and medium-sized mainstay businesses and promoting new businesses to support these new industries. Kumamoto is home to many new industries, and we have a support organization in which the public and private sectors work together, called the Kumamoto Prefecture Business Promotion Support Center. The center was established with funds from the Kumamoto prefectural government and the Higo Bank. In addition to our main work of banking operations, we also put our energy into creating a better living environment for the prefecture’s citizens by supporting organizations such as The Distribution Economics Institute of Kumamoto Area and the Kumamoto Development Research Center. Higin Venture Capital Co., Ltd., established in 1996, also cooperates with these organizations to provide comprehensive support to match the growth stage of the venture companies. The Bank has continued to be active in supporting cultural events such as concerts and art exhibits as well as in promoting environmental conservation efforts, with the establishment of the Higo Water Resources Protection Foundation. Believing that it will become all the more important for us to make broad social contributions, we set up a Regional Culture Department in our Head Office in 1995 to act as a organization specializing in social contributions.

Address: 1 Renpeicho, Kumamoto 860-8615, Kumamoto, Japan

Phone: +81 96 325 2111
FAX: +81 96 326 8027