When East Lansing Mayor Sam Singh and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero arrived in Asan, South Korea, late last Monday, South Korean and American flags flew on every block.
A marching band greeted their arrival the next morning.
Asan city officials held late-night meetings to ensure every aspect of the visit went as planned.
"I was very impressed with their level of dedication and their work ethic," Singh said of his hosts on a whirlwind four-day tour of the Asian country. "It was definitely a very scheduled trip that had us going from event to event."
Singh and Bernero both hailed the trip as an opportunity to promote economic development in the Lansing area, although it was planned after the mayor of Asan traveled to Lansing last year.
Several Lansing City Councilmembers questioned Bernero's decision to take the trip, as the city prepares to deal with an anticipated budget deficit.
"I would have been a fool not to go. There's no question that it was worth it," Bernero said. "Now more than ever we need to be building relationships, not just regionally."
Asan, a growing industrial city located about an hour south of the South Korean capital of Seoul, is home to Hyundai Motor Company and the LCD division of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
Singh and Bernero met with executives from the two companies to discuss possible business initiatives, plugging the newly created Lansing Regional SmartZone as a means to facilitate investments in the area. The SmartZone provides tax incentives for high-tech startup businesses to locate in Greater Lansing.
Singh said the companies' executives were "receptive" to their ideas, but no business deals were inked.
"You go there in the first visits to kind of create relationships," Singh said. "The second phase is actually planning.
"We've been able to start that conversation."
The next step, he said, is to connect local businesses with potential partners in South Korea. Officials from Asan are considering another trip to Michigan this fall, Singh said.
He doesn't anticipate South Korean companies building factories in the area.
"You're not going to see those hard investments in communities like Lansing," he said.
Collaborations are more likely to happen on applied projects, such as helping Samsung boost their market for LCD screens in cars.
"There are other technologies that are blossoming there that need the intelligence and infrastructure of a university to bring to market," he said.
MSU could play an important role in fostering relationships in South Korea, and Singh said he plans on discussing possibilities with MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon.
