Cooper's visit with Japan's Kishida could coincide with a major NC jobs announcement
The Japanese prime minister’s planned visit to North Carolina this week could come with a major jobs announcement in the state.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida lands at Raleigh-Durham International Airport on Thursday. That same day, officials in charge of approving economic incentives for business recruitment are scheduled to hold a special meeting.
Asked Tuesday if Kishida’s visit might coincide with any big economic announcements, Cooper said yes. “We're going to be announcing something pretty soon this week,” Cooper told WRAL in an interview. “So hopefully more jobs for our state. So we're very excited about that.”
Business recruitment efforts are highly secretive, and Cooper didn’t provide additional details about the jobs announcement or the company involved.
Cooper announced last week that he would host Kishida on Thursday and Friday — an extremely rare visit to North Carolina by a sitting international head of state. The visit comes on heels of the Democratic governor's own trips to Tokyo to recruit Japanese businesses to the state. North Carolina’s relationship with Japanese companies has focused largely on the aerospace, biotechnology and clean energy sectors.
The North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Economic Investment Committee, which approves economic incentives used to help companies expand or move to the state, is scheduled to hold a special meeting Thursday morning. The committee’s meetings often precede major corporate expansions in or relocations to the state.
Japan is one of the United States' largest trading partners, and the largest source of foreign investment in North Carolina. At least 225 Japanese companies have large footprints in the state, employing nearly 30,000 people, according to the governor’s office. That number is expected to grow by thousands more jobs in the coming years, Cooper’s office said in October.
North Carolina is expected to be Kishida’s only U.S. stop after a state dinner at the White House with President Joe Biden. Cooper is expected to attend that dinner. The governor’s meetings with Japanese officials are often followed by big announcements by Japanese companies in North Carolina.
After Cooper’s most recent trip to Tokyo, in October, Toyota announced it would more than double the size of a massive electric vehicle battery factory in Randolph County. The company’s $14 billion factory, which is between Greensboro and Pittsboro, is expected to eventually employ more than 5,000 people — an investment that is expected to spur residual growth of contractors and services in the area.
Fujihatsu & Toyotsu Battery Components, a partnership between Fujihatsu Tech America and Toyota Tsusho America, said in February it would create 133 new jobs in a new electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Liberty. FTBC is investing $60 million in the project, which will support Toyota’s battery manufacturing unit.
Cooper’s administration also pushed for years to recruit a HondaJet facility to the Piedmont Triad International Airport. Greensboro is now the global headquarters for Honda Aircraft.
"Most Japanese businesspeople do care deeply about relationships," Cooper said of the years-long effort to recruit the businesses. "They like predictability, they like things where they know who they're dealing with. And that's been very positive for us to establish these relationships. And the prime minister choosing to come here is a great honor for our state.”
While in North Carolina, Kishida and Cooper are expected to visit with executives at HondaJet and Toyota. In addition to those companies’ aerospace and automotive expansions, the state recently announced several key expansions by foreign biotech and pharmaceutical companies in central and eastern North Carolina.
State and local leaders in February approved incentives worth $10.7 million for Japanese pharmaceutical research company Kyowa Kirin, which plans to add about 100 jobs in Lee County. Cooper met with Kyowa Kirin executives last year in Tokyo, when he was also meeting with Toyota executives.
After visits with the Japanese delegation to HondaJet and Toyota on Friday, Cooper and North Carolina first lady Kristin Cooper are scheduled to host a state lunch for Kishida and his wife, Kishida Yuko, at the Executive Mansion prepared by Raleigh chef Ashley Christensen. The governor’s office said the award-winning restaurateur will serve a meal “that highlights North Carolina’s culinary tradition with contributions from Japanese fare.”
Additionally, Sam Jones BBQ will provide barbecue for other members of the Japanese delegation and members for the Japanese media. North Carolina is one of the nation’s leading pork producers, and Japan imported almost $15 billion worth of U.S. pork in 2022, according to the NC Pork Council.
The band Unspoken Tradition will play live music with an acoustic bluegrass set in the garden at the state lunch.
“We're going to show him a little southern hospitality and try to show him all that North Carolina has to offer, particularly in the area of community colleges, universities, and our great people and our great workforce,” Cooper said. “I think that's our secret sauce — of why Japanese companies have continued to invest in North Carolina, because they know they're going to get the best workers in the world here.”
