Daejeon mayor embarks on overseas trip to foster economic ties
Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo, left, shakes hands with Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell in April 2024. Courtesy of Daejeon Metropolitan City
Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo has embarked on a seven-day overseas trip from June 23 to 29, visiting Montgomery County and Seattle in the United States and Canada's Calgary, the city government said in a statement.
This trip aims to facilitate the entry of Korean businesses into the U.S. market by accompanying an economic delegation composed of officials from the bio and information technology sectors, establishing networking opportunities with international companies.
Lee and the delegation will begin their trip by visiting Montgomery County, known as the "DNA Valley" of the United States and a sister city to Daejeon. In May, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and a delegation visited Daejeon, signing an agreement to provide incentives for Daejeon businesses entering the U.S. market.
During the visit to Montgomery, Lee will discuss measures for business exchanges and market entry strategies between the two cities.
On June 24, the delegation will tour the National Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health in Montgomery County.
They will also visit the Montgomery County Government office to meet with Elrich to discuss business expansion and enhance friendly exchanges between the cities.
On June 25, the delegation will move to Seattle, a major industrial city and the fourth largest in the U.S. West, home to global companies such as Amazon and Boeing.
Lee and the delegation plan to visit these companies to explore the latest technological trends, conduct site inspections and discuss business exchange opportunities for Daejeon companies.
Lee said, "Exchanges with overseas sister cities should not be limited to cultural interactions but should include practical economic, science and university exchanges to drive local growth. We will continue to support Daejeon companies in making a name for themselves and exploring new markets abroad."
Expanding cultural and economic exchanges
Additionally, they will attend a joint declaration and commemorative reception with Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell to strengthen their 35-year partnership. KAIST will also attend the reception to promote research collaboration with the University of Washington.
On June 26, the delegation will travel to Bellevue, located in eastern Washington, to meet with Mayor Lynne Robinson. They will discuss expanding cultural and economic exchanges between the cities and introduce the Daejeon economic delegation. Meetings with Amazon officials and other business engagements are also scheduled.
The delegation will visit the University of Washington's Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) near Bellevue to benchmark how the university collaborates with Microsoft on industry-academic programs and projects.
On June 27, they will head to Calgary, Canada, to prepare for the September launch of the World Economic and Science Cities Alliance and discuss joint projects.
On June 28, Mayor Lee will meet with the deputy mayor of Calgary to discuss sister city exchange promotion.
The delegation will visit Calgary's startup center to study the North American startup ecosystem before returning to Korea.