Taro Kato is the Director General of the Mining and Metals Finance Department of JBIC where he oversees areas such as steel, copper and critical minerals, through managing relationship with various players worldwide and through financing related projects.

His career in JBIC spans over 25 years across a wide range of roles including as the Director General of the Finance Office for SMEs as well as the Deputy Director General of the Corporate Finance Department and the Director of Division 3 of the Oil and Gas Finance Department. He also has the various experience as Senior Representative in Paris and Representative in Washington D.C., where he led relationship management with various clients mainly in the EU, Turkey and the U.S., including governments, governmental institutions, major companies and international organizations.

He has a BA in Economics from the University of Tokyo and a Master of International Public Policy from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University.