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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana Gov. Eric Holcomb will lead a contingent of officials on an international economic development trip to Australia and Singapore starting this weekend, his office announced Friday morning.
Holcomb and his wife, Janet Holcomb, and Indiana Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg will depart Indianapolis for Australia on Saturday and return from Singapore on Tuesday, July 30. They will be joined by officials from the Indiana Economic Development Corp.
Indiana shares significant trade ties with both regions, with imports and exports exceeding $1.8 billion and $944 million with Australia and Singapore, respectively. The state is home to 32 Australian businesses, including C&R Racing, CSL Plasma, Everstream, Pratt Paper, SalesPond and Tronics, and two Singaporean-owned businesses.
Several Indiana-based companies do business in either Australia and Singapore, with consultant CAI, Eli Lilly and Co. and Zimmer Biomet operating in both.
The trip will be Holcomb’s 24th international economic development trip as governor and his first official visits to Australia and Singapore. The cost of the governor’s travel is being paid with private donations to the Indiana Economic Development Foundation, his office said.
The governor’s office said “the trip will focus on growing partnerships to advance mutually beneficial economic development, innovation and talent development in key shared sectors such as advanced manufacturing, defense and energy.”
In Sydney, Holcomb will meet New South Wales Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty and U.S. Consul General in Sydney Christine Elder. The delegation will also attend a roundtable discussion at the U.S. Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
The governor and Rosenberg will also meet with executives of Australia-based businesses, including Rux Energy, which is working to enable the shift to low-cost green hydrogen. Holcomb will also address guests from business, government and academia at a reception hosted by U.S. Consul General Elder.
The delegation will also meet with leaders of the American Chamber of Commerce in Victoria and attend a roundtable hosted by the chamber in partnership with IFM Investors, a Melbourne-based asset manager that has invested in the Indiana Toll Road.
On July 27, the delegation will travel to Singapore and meet with government officials and representatives of Enterprise Singapore–the government’s enterprise development office, to discuss opportunities to increase investment, trade and innovation. They will also meet with members of the Singapore business community interested in expanding to the U.S. at a business and industry roundtable hosted by Enterprise Singapore.
“Australia and Singapore both represent significant partnership opportunities due to their strengths in bolstering innovation, attracting and developing talent and cultivating growth in critical sectors,” Holcomb said. “I look forward to taking Indiana’s message across the Pacific and working to foster new opportunities for our businesses and our residents.”
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Nice little boondoggle before he leaves office.
Peterson, Ballard, Goldsmith, Hudnut all went on trade and economic development trips. The city has participated in global trade for generations and it is a common practice for mayors and other city leaders to go on economic development trips. If it is a “boondoggle,” it is a useful one, so let him doggle and bring the boons upon the city. And, find something useful to worry about,