Global Connectivity

2024 | Singapore

Singapore – 2024

Both binational regions, San Diego and Singapore share expertise in knowledge-intensive industries, including artificial intelligence, medical device manufacturing, and information communications technology, and Singapore boasts satellite operations for some of San Diego’s premier innovators including Qualcomm, ResMed, and Illumina. Further, Singapore has poured $12.8 billion in FDI into the U.S. since 2019.

For three days in October 2024, Representative Scott Peters and WTCSD led a delegation of 40 senior leaders to bolster public-private relationships with Singaporean partners.

Strategic milestones included:

• The celebration of a recent partnership between UC San Diego and National University Singapore, as well the exploration of new opportunities around soft-landing space with Singapore commercial real estate developer CapitaLand
• Opportunities to showcase San Diego-Tijuana and major regional development projects for foreign investors, including innovation developments by San Diego State University and investments by Curebound
• Meetings with Port, Airport, Border, and infrastructure partners to better connect our regions through nonstop air and liner service, as well as sharing energy transition and urban development innovations.
• Government convenings with Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Gan Kim Yong and other dignitaries
• Formal meetings and tours of major employers in both regions, including Illumina, ResMed, as well as the Mandai Wildlife Group—a peer of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

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2023 | South Korea

Seoul, Incheon, Siheung, & Gyeonggi Province, South Korea – 2023

San Diego and South Korea boast comparable capabilities in innovation clusters, including personalized medicine, semiconductor research and manufacturing, and clean energy. Korean investment into the U.S. is accelerating, with $18.2 billion in new investment since mid-2020, and is the #13 country investing venture capital into San Diego by deal count. For three days in October and November 2023, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and WTCSD led a delegation of more than 30 senior leaders across Seoul, Incheon, Siheung, and Gyeonggi Province to bolster public-private relationships with Korean partners.

Strategic milestones included:

• A visit to the Governor of Gyeonggi Province, where Mayor Todd Gloria delivered a letter from Governor Newsom outlining California’s interest in growing and advancing its economic ties with Gyeonggi
• An Invest in San Diego luncheon showcasing regional investment opportunities, with pitches on manufacturing, energy, innovation, and real estate projects from Tijuana, Imperial Valley, and San Diego, hosted by Dentons
• Tours of the Korean offices of Illumina and Qualcomm, and celebrating a new partnership between San Diego’s Dexcom and Korean tech giant Kakao
• A meeting and tour of Samsung Biologics, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of biologics
• Celebration of partnerships between UCSD and SDSU and Seoul National and Yonsei Universities

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2022 | Netherlands

Amsterdam, Veldhoven, Leiden, & The Hague, Netherlands – 2022

Much like San Diego, the Netherlands has expertise in knowledge-intensive industries and a commitment to sustainability and social innovation. In addition to directly employing 5,000 San Diegans predominantly in the innovation economy, the Netherlands is among the top countries for FDI, investing nearly $318 million into the San Diego economy in 2021 alone. For three days in September 2022, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and WTCSD led a delegation of 29 senior leaders across Amsterdam, Veldhoven, Leiden, and The Hague to bolster public-private relationships with Dutch partners.

Strategic milestones included:

• The grand opening and ribbon cutting of Qualcomm’s AI Research Lab, which has formalized a partnership with the University of Amsterdam to support a pipeline of engineering talent
• A meeting and tour of ASML at its Veldhoven headquarters to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its investment in its San Diego-based Cymer site
• Local, minority-owned small businesses Trabus Technologies and Nano PharmaSolutions pitched to the Port of Rotterdam and Leiden University Medical Center, respectively
• Formal meetings and tours of several companies considering investment into San Diego and California as led by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria
• Hosted Digital Twin demo at TNO, the Dutch government’s premier applied science research organization

Outcomes:

• San Diego International Airport to launch direct flight to Amsterdam with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
• TNO established its first North American office in San Diego

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2019 | Germany

Frankfurt & Munich, Germany – 2019

With the mounting global uncertainty caused by Brexit and Lufthansa’s new non-stop service from San Diego to Frankfurt, Germany was increasingly becoming a key market for San Diego. In October 2019, World Trade Center led a delegation of 20+ senior-level executives to Frankfurt and Munich to explore connectivity in transportation, smart cities, and life sciences. Key meetings included visits to the European Central Bank, Siemens, IBM Watson’s Lab, as well as key meetings and receptions with key political contacts in each market.

Strategic milestones included:

• Takeda California and Evotec announced a new partnership between Takeda & German-based Evotec. The partnership will be lead through Takeda’s San Diego office and will increase the companies ability to help their clients with drug discovery and development
• Delegates learned about BMW’s partnership with Qualcomm, which leverages their 5G technology to create a cellular vehicle-to-vehicle communication network
• Delegates toured the House of Logistics and Mobility and exported Frankfurt’s and the broader RMV approach to mobility, which has been aided by San Diego-based Cubic Transportation Systems

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2018 | Japan

Tokyo, Japan – November 2018

Nearly 12,000 San Diegans are directly employed by Japan-based companies including Sony, Takeda, and more. Additionally, there was more than $3.4 billion in economic activity between San Diego and Japan from 2016 -2018. During the three day trade mission – led by Rep. Peters and WTCSD – San Diego looked to capitalize on these connections. The 30+ person delegation featured key startups and anchor companies.

Strategic milestones included:

• A visit to Takeda’s Shonan Health Innovation Park, one of the first collaborative academic and private sector research centers in Japan
• A reception where San Diego-based Scientist.com announced an expansion into Tokyo
• A ‘trends in venture capital forum’ with Qualcomm, Yahoo! Japan and others at Plug and Play, the world’s largest technology accelerator

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2017 | UK

London & Cambridge, UK – October 2017

The U.K. is one of San Diego’s most vital trading partners. U.K.-based companies directly support more than 10,000 local jobs and have poured more than $3.9 billion in greenfield investment (2003-2015) into San Diego’s economy. The U.K. is also one of the top 10 largest export markets for San Diego-produced goods and services.

Over the course of the three-day trade mission, WTCSD made two significant announcements, representing both the smart cities and life sciences: San Diego-based Forge Therapeutics announced the launch of BLACKSMITH, a new platform being developed in partnership with Evotec AG’s U.K. team. With more than 23,000 people dying in the U.S. annually due to resistance to anti-biotic superbugs, Forge’s new platform will aid in bringing lifesaving drugs to the market. The partnership will also enable Forge to create additional jobs in San Diego. In March 2018, Forge announced it was doubling its footprint in San Diego because of the deal.

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2017 | Canada

Vancouver, Canada – June 2017

In June 2017, City of San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer became one of the first City mayors to travel internationally as official city business. Economically speaking, Vancouver is seen as one of the greenest cities in the world. With the Mayor’s climate action plan and the ongoing development of our cleantech industry, San Diego is fast being recognized as another one of North America’s greenest cities.

Strategic milestones included:

• San Diego-based Cubic Transportation Systems, in partnership with TransLink, Metro Vancouver’s transportation network, announced there were more than 2 million compass cards in circulation
• Phoenix Molecular Design, a life sciences company based in Vancouver, is actively expanding its business to San Diego and plans to grow to 15 employees within two years
  UC San Diego and University of British Columbia (UBC) formulized the HIBAR initiative, designed to connect their faculty to their communities to tackle problems around sustainability and climate change
• San Diego State University became the only California university accepted into the International Sustainability Campus Network, joining UBC and other top tier universities around the globe
  SDG&E and BC Hydro, British Columbia’s energy utility, participated in a clean energy forum

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