Gyeonggi Province Governor Visits Four Regions in US and Canada to Expand Economic Sphere and Attract Investments

From May 6 to 18, Gyeonggi Province Governor Dong Yeon Kim led a delegation on an 11-night, 13-day visit to the United States and Canad...

From May 6 to 18, Gyeonggi Province Governor Dong Yeon Kim led a delegation on an 11-night, 13-day visit to the United States and Canada. This mission aimed to expand Gyeonggi’s economic sphere, strengthen international exchanges, and attract foreign investments exceeding KRW one trillion.

The visit focused on the North American Pacific Coast, a hub of the global semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) industries.

In the US, the delegation visited Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles in California; Phoenix in Arizona; and Seattle in Washington State.

In Canada, they visited Victoria in the province of British Columbia.

Let's take a closer look at what transpired during the first 4 days (May 6 - 9).

(5/6) Signed a Friendship and Cooperation MOU with California Governor Gavin Newsom

Governor Kim met with California Governor Gavin Newsom to renew a 12-year-old friendship and cooperation relationship as the first agenda item for the Gyeonggi delegation in North America. The two regions signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on collaboration in trade and investment, climate change, people exchanges, and startups.

According to the agreement, Gyeonggi and California pledge to cooperate in areas such as economic and business development, investment and innovation in trade and investment, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adopting clean transportation to address climate change, and exchanging expertise in entrepreneurship, startup communities, and small businesses.

(5/7) Visited NVIDIA and Google headquarters, leading companies in the AI industry, to propose collaboration

The next day, the Gyeonggi delegation visited the headquarters of NVIDIA and Google in the US to discuss collaboration opportunities with Gyeonggi Province.

The province is considering building data centers to support the widespread adoption of AI across all industries.

Requests for technical support for constructing AI data centers in Gyeonggi were made to NVIDIA, and plans for establishing specialized data centers in areas like the Siheung Seoul National University Hospital and northern regions of Gyeonggi were discussed.

Shanker Trivedi, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Business at NVIDIA, responded positively and agreed to form a working group to foster ongoing collaboration.

The visit to Google's headquarters focused on cooperation in nurturing AI startups and talent. Representatives from NHN CLOUD, Seoul National University, and several startups presented business plans and expressed their willingness to collaborate.

(5/8) Visited Silicon Valley unicorn company Viz.ai to learn about their success strategies

On May 8, representatives of emerging startups from Gyeonggi visited Viz.ai, a global developer of medical imaging diagnostic platforms, to share success stories and discuss collaboration opportunities.

Companies like Creple Co., Ltd., Able J Co., Ltd., NHN CLOUD, Saelon Solutions Co., Ltd., and AI for Blockchain Co., Ltd., participated in the visit, providing Gyeonggi startups with new perspectives and opportunities through firsthand exposure to successful overseas models.

(5/9) Met with Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, known as the "Climate Governor," to advance collaboration on climate crisis response.

Governor Kim met with Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, known as the "Climate Governor," to discuss the role and leadership of local governments in addressing the climate crisis.

Inspired by Washington State's Climate Commitment Act and healthy environment laws, Governor Kim proposed collaboration to bridge the climate change gap.

They agreed to set up a working committee to strengthen policy cooperation and invited Washington companies and startups to the Climate Tech Conference in Gyeonggi in August, continuing discussions through a working group.

Governor Inslee responded positively to these proposals.

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Stay tuned for more updates as the Gyeonggi delegation continues to strive for global innovation during their international visit!