Huntington Area Development Council (HADCO) President and CEO David Lieving, together with the West Virginia Department of Economic Development, visited the 2024 Automotive World exhibition in Tokyo, Japan.
According to its official website, Automotive World it is the world's leading exhibition for advanced automotive technologies. Held from January 22-24, the exhibition saw over 1,600 exhibitors and 77,744 visitors from all over the world, including the top automotive manufacturers, designers, investors, and suppliers.
Despite the overflowing business development opportunities that come with the event, news organization the Herald-Dispatch reported that only one U.S. state was represented during the exhibition — West Virginia.
“HADCO, in partnership with the West Virginia Department of Economic Development and the Polymer Alliance Zone, is out telling Huntington’s story about our available labor force and all the assets we have to support foreign direct investment,” said Lieving, who also highlighted the importance of attending the event and building relationships if West Virginia is attracting Japanese investment.
“Economic development is facing challenging times worldwide with COVID-19. I expect us to emerge from the pandemic with new opportunities. I believe we will see renewed interest in locating manufacturing, distribution, and warehousing in more strategic locations in our market area,” Lieving said in a LinkedIn post.
West Virginia has focused on attracting more Japanese investment for over 30 years. According to the Development Office website, Japanese investments in the state have amounted to $2.7 billion, with 21 Japanese companies employing more than 4,000 people.
Some Japanese businesses in the state include Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Buffalo, K.S. of West Virginia in Ravenswood; and Kuraray at the Washington Works site in Wood County.
For more information, visit https://www.automotiveworld.jp/tokyo/en-gb/sokuho.html