The Research Valley Partnership (RVP) recently took a trip to Japan and hosted a delegation from Belgium, both to encourage and promote the Research Valley as a location for companies based in those countries.
RVP President Todd McDaniel says the four day mission to Japan correlated with BioJapan 2015 World Business Forum, Asia’s number one life science partnering conference and exhibition, which is the largest Asian based biotech conference of its kind. “We had 17 or 18 one-on-one partnering meetings while we were there with different companies related to the life sciences sector,” said McDaniel. McDaniel said the RVP was the only presence from Texas at this event and one of only a handful of economic development corporations from the United States, which was very attractive to the Japanese based companies. “It was very attracting to these companies because I think they have this vision of Texas and I think they have seen a lot of foreign direct investment by major Japanese companies in Texas so what I learned was there is this underlying affinity that was very interesting, so it was a positive experience on that front,” said McDaniel.
McDaniel says a Belgian delegation made their seventh visit. During the three and a half day visit, activities included more than 100 customized sessions involving eleven Belgian companies interested in locating or growing existing operations locally and in Texas. There was also time continuing to plan the move of the Aggies Go To War exhibit from Belgium, where it was unveiled last year as part of a new World War II museum, to Aggieland. McDaniel says there was also early preparation work for a Royal economic development mission by the Princess of Belgium to Texas in December of 2016. There will be between 100 and 150 companies participating in the mission.
Click here for more information on the Research Valley Partnership.
Click below to hear comments from Todd McDaniel visiting with WTAW’s Chelsea Reber.