Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb meets with Ichita Yamamoto, governor of Gunma prefecture of Japan during a past economic development trip in September 2023. Photo provided
Gov. Eric Holcomb is taking another international economic development trip this summer — this time to Australia and Singapore.
The trip will be Holcomb’s 24th as governor and first official visit to the countries of Australia and Singapore — and will have a focus on advanced manufacturing, defense and energy. Travel costs are covered by private donations to the Indiana Economic Development Foundation.
Holcomb, First Lady Janet Holcomb and David Rosenberg — Indiana’s Secretary of Commerce — left for Australia from Indianapolis on Saturday and returns from Singapore July 30. The trio will be joined by other representatives from the Indianan Economic Development Corporation.
“Indiana is celebrating win after win thanks to our strategic focus on cultivating a globally minded, future economy,” said Holcomb in a release. “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. I look forward to taking Indiana’s message across the Pacific and working to foster new opportunities for our businesses and our residents.”
Indiana’s imports and exports tally $1.8 billion with Australia and $944 million with Singapore. Indiana has 32 Australian business establishments, including C&R Racing, CSL Plasma, Everstream, Pratt Paper, Sales Pond and Tronics. Indiana has two Singaporean-owned businesses.
Hoosier companies CAI, Eli Lilly and Company and Zimmer Biomet operate in both Australia and Singapore.
The Australian leg of the trip will include meetings with American and Australian government officials, including New South Wales Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty and U.S. Consul General in Sydney Christine Elder. The group will attend a roundtable discussion at the U.S. Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
Holcomb and Rosenberg will also meet with Australian businesses like Rux Energy, a technology company with a focus on hydrogen storage. Another portion of the trip will include meetings with government officials in Victoria, including a roundtable hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce and IFM Investors, a Melbourne-based company that has invested in the Indiana Toll Road.
After roughly a week in Australia, the delegation will go to Singapore to meet with more government officials and representatives of Enterprise Singapore — the government’s enterprise development office. The agency will host another roundtable open to business leaders and pitch Indiana as a competitive destination.
The Hoosiers State is home to more than 1,050 foreign-owned business establishments that span 40 countries and territories, according to the press release. These companies committed to investing $20.49 billion in 2023, more than double their 2022 investment and 71% of total committed capital investments in 2023.
By Whitney Downard — The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
