I would like to express my deepest sympathies to those affected by the large earthquake that occurred on New Year's Day, with its epicenter in the Noto region, and pray for a quick recovery.

Last year saw major easing of restrictions around the COVD-19 pandemic, which, in turn ushered in the continued recovery of inbound demand and a weak yen, which brought steady profits to services, exports, manufacturing, and many other sectors. Against this background of economic recovery, expectations of NRI Group continued to grow, and we were fortunate to steadily achieve successful results together with our customers.

NRI Group’s 2023 to 2025 mid-term management plan, and our long-term vision “NRI Group Vision 2030” have begun, and FY2024 marks the second year of the implementation of both. This also marks an important period for NRI in preparing to achieve steady growth toward 2030 by focusing on the “increased productivity” that supports our growth base, the indispensable “creation of a base to grow global business” and other areas. Furthermore, dramatic advances in generative AI will undoubtedly transform society overall. NRI Group must also tie itself to this generative AI evolution and take advantage of it going forward.

Finally, as we announced last November, current Senior Corporate Managing Director, Kaga Yanagisawa, will become the new CEO of NRI from April this year. I want to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to all of you for your support since I began my tenure as CEO in 2016. This New Year brings a renewed vigor to NRI group under our new CEO’s leadership, and I look forward to watching our organization continue to prosper.