Asia Mission Debrief
June 14, 2011
As Prepared
Ni Hao! Thanks for joining us this morning. Here with us are Secretary Johansson from the Department of Business and Economic Development, Secretary of State John McDonough, and Wallace Loh, President of the University of Maryland.
As you know, we’ve just concluded a highly successful trade mission to China, Korea, and Vietnam, and we wanted to take this opportunity to give you a brief update:
- We led a delegation of 68 Maryland business and higher education leaders to expand our business relationships and cooperation between our universities.
- We met with companies like Samsung and the Tasly Group, a leading Chinese pharmaceutical company which is bringing a $40 million investment to Maryland.
- In addition, I had the opportunity to pitch Maryland business opportunities to Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam, and Counselor Liu, the highest ranking woman in Chinese government.
- I also had the opportunity to pitch Maryland at two international bioscience conferences, the first in Shanghai and the second in Seoul.
- Overall, we were able to secure more than $85 million in immediate, direct foreign investments into Maryland.
- And we were able to set the wheels in motion to continue strengthening our business relationships:
During the mission, we consummated agreements with 9 companies – 5 Chinese and 4 Vietnamese – which are bringing their business to Maryland.
What’s more, we recruited two new Chinese bioscience companies to our State’s international incubator: Sunscape and CellPath China. And we re-upped with a third company, DaSol Energy Science and Technology, a solar energy company which currently has operations in our incubator.
I also had the opportunity to have lunch with servicemen and women from Maryland who are serving in Korea. At the request of a Major I met, we will be sending the troops a bushel of Maryland sweet corn.
Prior to our meeting, I laid a wreath on behalf of the people of Maryland at the Korean War Memorial, and afterwards I visited the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.
It was important to us to make time in Vietnam to visit the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. The Command is a joint America-Vietnamese venture, with the mission of recovering the remains of Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in Vietnam.
