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Mr & Mrs Brian Kemp visited Switzerland for the World Economic Forum

Georgia (USA) Tends to Swiss Investment Ties During Governor’s Davos Trip.

Georgia Governor Mr Brian Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp visited Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, but also got outside of Davos to visit Swiss investors in Georgia (USA) and new prospects.

FEBRUARY 8, 2024.

Gov. Brian Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp visited Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, but also got outside of Davos to visit Swiss investors in Georgia and new prospects.

While Gov. Brian Kemp was meeting global leaders and industry heavy weights in the alternate universe of World Economic Forum, investment recruiters from Georgia were fanning out around Switzerland, using the opportunity to deepen the state’s growing investment ties with the host country.

Mr. Kemp made his second straight visit this January to Davos, the enclave transformed each year into a private preserve for global power brokers, where countries and companies seize the chance to hang a temporary shingle.

Georgia didn’t have a physical pavilion, but Mr. Kemp took advantage of his platform. He pitched Georgia’s electric-mobility bona fides during a panel discussion featuring CEOs from Chinese battery giant CATL and Volvo Cars, then reconnected with Jan Jambon, minister-president of the Belgian region of Flanders, who had visited Georgia on a royal trade mission in 2022.

Mr. Kemp also met at Davos with executives from Hyundai Motor Group, which is building a massive plant west of Savannah, and networking giant Cisco before reportedly hosting a luncheon with 25 potential investors.

“Davos is almost like its own world,” said Nico Wijnberg, the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s director of international relations and chief of protocol, whose position straddles investment promotion and diplomacy. With so many decision-makers in one place, a sharp focus on the forum itself can yield solid results in a short time, said Mr. Wijnberg, who plays a key role in coordinating overseas business missions for the governor.

“It’s almost three missions for one,” he said of the forum.

Meanwhile, the department wrapped a five-day Swiss trade mission around the Tuesday-Thursday event, bringing the governor into visits with both new prospects as well as some of the 55 Swiss companies that have already set up shop in Georgia, according to the state.

Mr. Kemp learned about innovagtions in plastic bottle cap production during a visit with Corvaglia, a maker of bottle caps with a $25 million factory in Newnan announced in 2018.

It’s no Hyundai, but “small and medium-sized companies are our bread and butter,” Mr. Wijnberg said.

The governor also participated in a business lunch with Stadler, a company that has not invested in Georgia but will impact the state significantly when it delivers MARTA’s sleek new rail cars starting in 2026.

For Mary Waters, who until recently served as deputy commissioner of Georgia’s international trade division, the visit was about renewing contacts and ensuring investors know the state is committed to their success.

“It’s fair to say not every company was aware that there was a trade team to help them out for their Georgia operations,” said Ms. Waters, who did not go to the World Economic Forum but instead spent the week pounding the pavement with Ellen Kraft, the new head of Georgia’s European office in Munich, and other team members including Coryn Marsik, who was named director of international investment six months ago.

One serendipitous touch point came from On Running, the Swiss shoe and apparel brand with a distribution operation in Henry County. The company has a strong partnership with Kuehne and Nagel, a large Swiss logistics provider with a substantive Georgia presence. With the governor visiting, the state was able to thank both companies for their use of Georgia’s ports and people.

“This is literally trade in action — logistics assets partnering with companies to be more impactful with their U.S. and North American market sales,” Ms. Waters told Global Atlanta.

She added that international companies, when invested in Georgia, also become exporters from the state.

During the trip, the department also met in the city of Muri with Robatech AG, a Swiss machinery firm with a 25-year presence in in Alpharetta, along with Baar, Switzerland-based Medmix, which recently opened a new facility in Hall County.

Ms. Waters and Mr. Wijnberg credited the Consulate General of Switzerland in Atlanta with helping organize the visits. The consulate maintains ties with Swiss executives in the Southeast through its Swiss Business Hub USA, which helps companies set up shop in the region.

Georgia’s Swiss business ties sometimes fly under the radar, but the country of 9 million people punches well above its weight when it comes to investment in the U.S.

According to the Swiss embassy in the United States, the country is the seventh largest foreign investor in the U.S. A report released by the embassy every two years pegs at 23,372 the number of jobs in Georgia supported by trade and investment with Switzerland. Some 15,900 come from Swiss affiliates operating in the state, while nearly 6,900 come from services exports to Switzerland, the remainder accounted for by goods trade (see a graphic below).

The country’s steady and growing impact has prompted the relaunch of a Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce Southeast chapter. Find more information about the chamber here.

Courtesy BY TREVOR WILLIAMS, Global Atlanta,USA.

Pendleton Group–

The Pendleton Group is the presenting sponsor of Global Atlanta’s Economic Development Channel.

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