Kotaro Saijo

President & CEO at Mitsui & Co. Italia SpA

Mr. Kotaro Saijo joined Mitsui & Co., Ltd. in 1988, and he has been in charge of textile and fashion related businesses for 18 years, specifically importing European and American fashion brands to the Japanese market, and brand licensing business, including working at the Textile Dept. of Mitsui France from 1994 to 1997. In 2003, Mr. Saijo established MANGO JAPAN Co., Ltd., which is a joint-venture company with the Spanish women’s fashion brand “MANGO”. He was appointed executive vice president by Mitsui to develop new stores in Japan. In 2006, Mr. Saijo moved from the Textile and Fashion Business Unit to the Financial Business Unit in Mitsui. His main activities included investment in a Japanese credit card company, the merger of two major leasing companies, internal M&A advisory service and support and administrative work for MGI. After he served as Executive Secretary and Human Resource General Manager, in 2013 he was transferred to London as General Manager of the Financial Business Dept., Mitsui Europe, where he was involved in startup investments related to the ICT and PE fund investments in Europe. Upon returning to Tokyo in 2016, he forged ahead with a new project to utilize AI technology for commodity derivative trading. In 2019, he joined Mitsui Global Investment in Silicon Valley, USA as President & CEO, and promoted investments in startups related to pharma and ICT. Mr. Saijo has been President & CEO at Mitsui & Co. Italia SpA since July 2020.