Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb tours the Gardens by the Bay during a foreign trip to Singapore in July.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb on Tuesday is scheduled to depart for an economic development trip to Slovakia and Italy—his fifth international trip in the past eight months.
The trip, which the governor’s office said will focus on strengthening the state’s international relationships, will last at least five days and involve visits to a war memorial, a Formula 1 race and meetings with various Slovakian and Italian companies that do business in Indiana.
“Indiana and Slovakia have a three-decade-long partnership that has only strengthened over the last mission-driven eight years,” Holcomb said in written remarks. “I look forward to building upon our shared priorities in defense and honoring the sacred anniversary of when the Slovaks regained their freedom. As we travel on to Italy, we will likewise build upon Indiana’s front-row seat in the growth and innovation in the future of motorsports and life sciences.”
Holcomb so far this year has visited Australia, Singapore, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil and Canada across four individual trips focused on sectors including semiconductors, energy and agbiosciences.
Holcomb, who last visited Slovakia in 2022, is expected to meet with Slovak government leaders on this trip to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the 1944 Slovak National Uprising, which occurred during World War II. He will also meet with U.S. and Indiana soldiers and airmen. He’ll be joined on that leg of the trip by Indiana Adjutant General Major Dale Lyles.
Indiana traded more $1.1 million in goods with Slovakia in 2023. The country is home to facilities for Indiana firms Berry Global Group, Eli Lilly and Co. and Green Cubes Technology.
Holcomb will travel to Italy on Aug. 31 with representatives of the Indiana Economic Development Corp to focus on growing racing relationships between the state and companies in Lombardy, Italy. He’ll attend the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia on Sept. 1, also meeting with leaders at Arrow McLaren Racing, Prema Racing and Sparco.
The delegation is also expected to meet with U.S. Consul General to Milan Douglass Benning and Lombardy Region President Attilio Fontan and participate in a roundtable discussion on growth of motorsports partnerships. Holcomb will also take part in a meeting at the headquarters of Dallara, the designer and manufacturer of the IndyCar Series chassis, which has only one facility outside of Italy—in Speedway.
Holcomb last traveled to Italy in 2018 for a motorsports and automotive focused development trip. Thirty-five Italian businesses have a presence in Indiana, and the pair imported and exported nearly $5.2 billion in goods last year.
The trip to Slovakia and Italy marks Holcomb’s 25th overseas trip since taking office in 2016. The cost of his travel to Italy is being covered by private donations to the Indiana Economic Development Foundation while the travel costs in Slovakia will be paid for by the Indiana National Guard.
By Mickey Shuey, Indianapolis Business Journal
