Showcasing Arkansas to the World: Takeaways from the SelectUSA Summit

May was an eventful month for Arkansas’ international business development team as we made rounds in Washington D.C. and attended the 2023 SelectUSA Investment Summit. The SelectUSA Summit is a key forum focused on attracting foreign direct investment to the United States, drawing delegations from 55 states & US territories, along with current & potential investors from over 80 countries.?

International companies already provide some 40,000 jobs in Arkansas, a figure poised to grow even further in coming years as firms proceed with patterns of near-shoring production and R&D to North America. Attracting and retaining global firms is a highly-competitive pursuit, since they raise their host community’s international profile while often seeding local innovation through joint-ventures and exchanges of skills & processes. Events like the SelectUSA Summit allow us to showcase Arkansas to a broad cohort of firms considering expansion all at once, demonstrating how the AEDC serves as a comprehensive ‘one-stop-shop’ to assist those looking at our region.?

Joining me was an all-star team from Arkansas, including my colleagues Olivia Womack, Ben Walters, and Dr. Cornelius Schnitzler from the AEDC’s Business Development Team, as well as Denise Thomas. Denise is the CEO of the Arkansas World Trade Center, an institution providing customized services & data, and helping to arrange trade missions for in-state companies keen on exporting. Having Denise with us was a major boon, as she expertly fielded inquiries on export & trade opportunities, illustrating how export promotion, in-turn, encourages inbound foreign direct investment to the state. It was also wonderful seeing representatives from several of Arkansas’ local & regional Economic Development Organizations (EDOs) at the event, including leaders from Sebastian, Jefferson, and Miller Counties.?

Companies from nearly every major sector were present at the Summit, but there was an outsized focus on Future Mobility, EVs, life sciences, and semiconductors. This is in keeping with trends we’ve seen emerge over the past several years, but with the US’ more recent turn in national industrial policy (the CHIPS Act, IRA, etc.), global firms in these fields are accelerating moves towards the American market. The exhibition hall also featured a captivating display of global innovation and entrepreneurship. From startups to well-established companies and public-private VCs, exhibitors showcased cutting-edge technologies, disruptive business models, and customized solutions, all aimed at the US market. This offered us a great chance to highlight Arkansas’ own, ever-growing innovation ecosystem, which has already attracted scores of startups from overseas.?

Prior to the Summit, Ben and I visited with several economic & commercial embassy officials from countries such as Japan, South Korea, India, and Singapore, as well as industry bodies working to increase cross-border trade & investment. At Indian Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu’s reception the Confederation of Indian Industry released the latest version of their ‘Indian Roots, American Soil’ report on Indian FDI to the US. As expected, Arkansas rose even further in rank to number 12 in the nation for job creation by Indian firms, due largely to several new projects from companies like Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro Limited, and Sequretek Pvt. Ltd. Sustained engagement with India’s global business community has supercharged our profile in the nation at a time when bilateral economic & geopolitical ties are thriving and investment is expected to advance into more diverse fields.?

Another notable meeting was that with Dr. Je Hyun-Jung, president & chief representative of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) Washington DC Office, along with senior KITA economic and trade policy analysts. South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol had just concluded a monumental state visit to Washington, focusing not only the critical US-Korean security alliance, but also the great strides Korean industry has made in the West. KITA’s Dr. Je gave us her own forecast on trends in Korean business ventures overseas, as well as new legislation KITA has helped to draft, aimed at creating a more flexible bilateral immigration regime for highly-skilled knowledge workers.

With nearly 500 global operations already in the state, there is still plenty of room for growth & diversification of sectors. The AEDC and our partners will continue this type of outreach, engaging with international prospect companies and policymakers to facilitate more foreign direct investment in Arkansas, building new bridges to global markets along the way.