Williamson County Commissioners Court approved an agreement April 25 with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, which acts on behalf of the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
According to the agreement, Williamson County and the KOTRA will work together to support and advise Korean companies to invest and do business in Williamson County as well as making relations with companies in Williamson County. The two parties agreed to share certain information with Korean companies on the business environment, policies and regulations in Williamson County.
This comes after a recent trip to the cities of Seoul and Pyeongtaek in Korea, during which elected officials from around Williamson County visited with executives of Samsung. The company’s fabrication plant in Pyeongtaek City is the largest microchip manufacturing plant in the world.
Likening it to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Dave Porter, Williamson County Economic Development Partnership executive director, said the KOTRA’s presence in Austin and Central Texas will allow the county to cultivate relationships with other companies in Korea.
“What we uncovered is that—through cultural differences, language differences—some of these smaller suppliers and other companies that we met with, they don’t know how to connect the dots,” Porter said. “They don’t know how to enter into the United States; they don’t know how to enter into Williamson County. So we made great progress with that.”
The group had a total of 15 business appointments on the trip. In addition to potential suppliers to the chip factory, officials also met with Korean companies dealing in clean technology, software, life sciences and automobiles.
Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said he expects several announcements to be made in the coming months regarding companies to enter the area.
“The agreement with KOTRA I know is a little different that we’re doing an agreement with a foreign country,” Gravell said. “It’s really that we’re going to work in good faith on both sides to help them onboard if they choose to come to America.”
