Planbase Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Takashi Mui), a company providing consulting services for management, subsidies, and DX/AI utilization for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), is pleased to announce that Yoshikazu Goto, former Vice Minister of the Manufacturing Industries Bureau at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), and currently an outside director at SODICK Co., Ltd. and Paramount Bed Holdings Co., Ltd., has been appointed as an external advisor to our company, effective July 1, 2026. Key Visual ■ Profile Yoshikazu Goto Joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) in April 1980. He has held positions such as Director of the Standards Division, Industrial Technology and Environment Bureau; Director of the Technology Division, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency; Vice Minister of the Manufacturing Industries Bureau; and Senior Deputy Minister for Manufacturing Industries. He has been at the forefront of industrial technology policy, standardization administration, SME policy, and manufacturing industry policy. After retiring from public service, he served as a specially appointed professor at the Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Materials Engineering, The University of Tokyo, and as Vice President and Director of the Technical Research Institute at the Japan Machinery Federation. He currently serves concurrently as an Outside Director (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member) of Paramount Bed Holdings Co., Ltd., an Outside Director of SODICK Co., Ltd., and Representative Director of the Japan Society of Assistive Technologies. He is an expert in manufacturing and industrial policy, possessing both public and private sector perspectives. 【Career Highlights (Excerpts)】 April 1980: Joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) Au