Evansville, IN – According to the state officials, Governor Eric Holcomb reportedly arrived in Japan on Friday, Sept. 8, along with representatives of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), including Chief Strategy Officer Ann Lathrop.
On Saturday, Gov. Holcomb and the delegation traveled to Gunma Prefecture, which is home to a robust manufacturing sector and several Japanese manufacturers that have operations in Indiana, including Subaru Corporation (Lafayette), Chiyoda Manufacturing Corporation (Greencastle), Elsa Corporation (Elwood), Heartland Automotive (Greencastle and Lafayette), TOA USA (Mooresville and Winchester), NHK Seating of America (Frankfort) and Yajima Industry (West Lafayette).
On Sunday, Gov. Holcomb kicked off the annual Midwest U.S.-Japan Association conference in Tokyo, joining governments of 10 U.S. Midwestern states, eight Japanese prefectures and approximately 100 corporations to advance partnerships across the two regions.
There, the Governor met with U.S. and Japanese officials, including U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, and delivered remarks to the conference on Monday morning, highlighting Indiana’s decades-long relationship with Japan, the state’s robust economy, and opportunities for future growth and innovation across key sectors like the future of mobility, advanced manufacturing, and energy storage and generation.
On Monday, Gov. Holcomb met with Japanese government leaders, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yoshimasa Hayashi, and the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Yasutoshi Nishimura, to discuss the longstanding partnerships between Indiana and Japan and opportunities to support one another’s community and economic development initiatives.
The next day, the Governor also met with Tochigi Prefecture Governor Tomikazu Fukuda, recognizing the prefecture’s 24-year sister state relationship with Indiana.
