Day 3
Day 3: Sagamore Institute Provides Connection for Indiana Mayors
HANGZHOU, China – Lt. Governor Becky Skillman today announced a new link between Indiana’s cities and economic opportunities in China.
While meeting with officials from the Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences (ZASS), Lt. Gov. Skillman touted a new resource for Indiana mayors looking to recruit Chinese business to Indiana. Sagamore Institute, an Indianapolis-based public policy research group, is partnering with Pacific World Trade to have a staff member located in Hangzhou to assist Indiana cities forging ties with the Province of Zhejiang.
“Some of the biggest obstacles to Chinese investment in Indiana are the language and distance barriers,” Lt. Governor Skillman said. “By putting more feet on the ground in China, we can help break down those barriers.”
In addition to this position, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) last week opened a satellite office in Zhejiang Province. Currently, nine Indiana cities are pursuing sister-state relationships with cities in Zhejiang Province – Muncie, Anderson, Bloomington, Franklin, Indianapolis, Valparaiso, Elkhart, Fishers, and Marion.
“We would like to thank the Sagamore Institute for their help in cultivating this Indiana-China relationship,” Lt. Governor Skillman said.
In May of 2006, while the Daniels-Skillman Administration supported an enriched sister state relationship with Zhejiang, the Sagamore Institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ZASS, kicking off a collaborative research project between the two entities. With the help of the IEDC, Sagamore is presenting a report on Indiana’s market demographics and economic opportunities. ZASS will do the same for Zhejiang and a joint report will be published later this year.
Day 3 Photo
Day 3 Blog Post
June 5, 2010:Today was our last day in Zhejiang, but before we flew to Beijing I had a meeting with officials from the Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences (ZASS). I introduced Josh Zhao to the staff from ZASS. Sagamore Institute, an Indianapolis-based public policy research group, is partnering with Pacific World Trade to have Josh in Hangzhou to assist Indiana mayors forging ties with the Province of Zhejiang.
Lately we have seen Indiana mayors and local government officials play an active role in recruiting foreign businesses to invest in our state. For instance, Marion Mayor Wayne Seybold recently visited China to attract a Chinese furniture manufacture to locate to his city and create jobs for Hoosiers. We want to continue to support our local officials and Josh will help clear some of the obstacles, like language and distance, which sometimes impede investment.
We know that companies recognize Indiana as one of the best places to do business. In 2009, Indiana won 48 competitive consolidations, where national or international companies saw the need to consolidate, then chose Indiana as the place they like to streamline operations. I’m confident the relationships we have built here in Zhejiang this week will lead to new opportunities for Hoosiers.
While in Zhejiang we have had the most gracious hosts, including Mr. Peng Bo, who never left our side. On departure they treated us to a boat tour of the beautiful West Lake, a well-known tourist destination in China.
This kind of hospitality continued as we arrived in Beijing. The staff at the hotel printed photos off my website, had them framed and placed them in my room. One of the photos was of me in my hometown of Bedford at the GM plant, where I announced with GM executives their plans to expand operations. They committed to create 245 jobs by 2013. The photo is a reminder that we will continue to work hard to entice not only international, but national companies to locate to Indiana and create jobs for our family, friends and neighbors.
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