Gov. Eric Holcomb, First Lady Janet Holcomb, Indiana Secretary of Commerce Jim Schellinger and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) delegation traveled to Nagoya, Japan, marking the governor’s second economic development trip to the state’s largest foreign direct investor.
In Nagoya, the delegation focused on advancing economic partnerships with Aichi Prefecture, meeting with prefectural government officials and representatives of Japanese businesses based in the country’s manufacturing center.
Aichi Prefecture is home to nearly 70 businesses with operations in Indiana, with companies like Aisin, DENSO, Toyota, Toyota Industrial and Toyota Tsusho headquartered there. Indiana is among the top five U.S. states for number of business establishments from Aichi Prefecture.
Holcomb and Aichi Gov. Hideaki Ohmura met to commemorate the memorandum of friendship and cooperation the two governors signed in 2017, recognizing the strong ties between Indiana and Aichi Prefecture. Since that time, the two have worked to host a number of bilateral delegations to support increased business and cultural exchanges to further develop both regions.
In the evening, Holcomb, his wife, Schellinger and the delegation hosted a “Friends of Indiana” reception to celebrate the Japan-Indiana partnership and thank business executives, government officials and stakeholders for their contributions to the state and for furthering the Japan-Indiana relationship.
This marks Gov. Holcomb’s second trip to Japan. Indiana is home to approximately 319 Japan-based business facilities, supporting more than 67,200 Hoosier jobs. The number of Japanese business facilities in Indiana has increased by more than 20 percent over the last five years.