County Executive Marc Elrich will travel to Korea and China this month to attend an international bio-health convention and to meet with companies.
In March, Elrich traveled to Taiwan for the second year in a row for an international conference and to recruit companies to the county. He previously said the county was successful in bringing back companies during his first trip in 2023.
“We had success in our past trips, and we anticipate more progress here,” Elrich said during a media briefing Wednesday.
Elrich, along with representatives from the county’s economic development effort and some businesses in the county, will attend BIO KOREA, and meet with companies seeking to expand in the U.S. to talk to them about why the county is an attractive option. They will also meet with companies in the tech sphere. He said that “For all these companies, the Institute of Health Computing and particularly its AI component are very attractive.”
According to the event website, BIO KOREA is an annual international convention “for invigorating and growing the global bio-health industry.”
After Korea, Elrich will travel to China to continue the same work. The county team has meetings set up with industry groups in the bio field as well as industrial groups.
Elrich said a number of companies from the county are coming because they are looking to expand into Asian markets — “We did the same thing when we went to India and Vietnam, we brought a lot of U.S., Maryland-based, Montgomery County-based companies with us, as they were seeking opportunities abroad just as we were hoping to attract companies in those countries to come to Montgomery County.” Last fall, Elrich traveled to India and Vietnam for an economic trade mission. Following that trip, he said 11 businesses from India and Vietnam were interested in opening in the county.
The trip will last about two weeks. Elrich said he will arrive in Korea on Monday, May 6 and will get back around Monday, May 20.
“It’s a big part of diversifying our economic base,” he said Wednesday.
Elrich’s first trip to Taiwan last year was his first international economic trade mission as County Executive.
