Mizuho Bank, Ltd. (President & CEO: Koji Fujiwara) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for business cooperation on September 7, 2018 with PKO Bank Polski S.A. (President of the Management Board: Zbigniew Jagiello) of Poland. Mizuho is the first Japanese bank to sign an MOU for business cooperation with PKO Bank Polski.
Established in 1919, PKO Bank Polski is Poland's largest commercial bank in terms of assets with a domestic network of more than 1,200 branches and is one of the leading banks in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of net income, equity, and customer base. PKO Bank Polski has developed business relationships with numerous companies outside Poland, which includes the completion of an operational merger with Nordea Bank Polska S.A. in 2015, as well as opening branches in Germany in 2016 and the Czech Republic in 2017 and conducting operations in Ukraine through its subsidiary Kredobank. A sustainable credit policy, high capital adequacy ratio, and capitalization combined with extensive experience and a wide range of services make PKO Bank Polski a strong and reliable financial partner.
Since becoming a member state of the European Union in 2004, many foreign companies have entered the Polish market due to its highly–educated young workforce and accessibility to the European single market. Currently, there are approximately 300 Japanese companies, mainly in the automobile and household electronics industries, operating in Poland.
In July 2015, Mizuho established the Mizuho Bank Europe N.V. Vienna Branch in Vienna, Austria, and we are making inroads to offering and expanding our broad range of financial services for clients in the region. We have also strengthened our support systems for clients in the region by signing MOUs for business cooperation with investment promotion agencies in Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.
By entering into this MOU, we will be able to leverage PKO Bank Polski's extensive information capabilities and banking network to provide more tailored support for clients’ business expansion needs and contribute to the further economic development of Poland.