Global Identity

WTCSD is focused on amplifying San Diego’s brand abroad.

Through trade missions and independent economic research, WTCSD works to amplify San Diego’s brand and strengthen connections with its most important markets.

Trade Missions

World Trade Center San Diego organizes cross-sectoral trade missions with senior-level executives to strengthen San Diego’s connections with key markets that create growth opportunities for our region and companies. Learn more about our recent trade missions below.

San Diego and South Korea boast comparable capabilities in innovation clusters, including personalized medicine, semiconductor research and manufacturing, and clean energy. Korean investment into the U.S. is accelerating, with $18.2 billion in new investment since mid-2020, and is the #13 country investing venture capital into San Diego by deal count. For three days in October and November 2023, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and WTCSD led a delegation of more than 30 senior leaders across Seoul, Incheon, Siheung, and Gyeonggi Province to bolster public-private relationships with Korean partners.

Strategic milestones included:

  • A visit to the Governor of Gyeonggi Province, where Mayor Todd Gloria delivered a letter from Governor Newsom outlining California’s interest in growing and advancing its economic ties with Gyeonggi.
  • An Invest in San Diego luncheon showcasing regional investment opportunities, with pitches on manufacturing, energy, innovation, and real estate projects from Tijuana, Imperial Valley, and San Diego, hosted by Dentons.
  • Tours of the Korean offices of Illumina and Qualcomm, and celebrating a new partnership between San Diego’s Dexcom and Korean tech giant Kakao.
  • A meeting and tour of Samsung Biologics, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of biologics.
  • Celebration of partnerships between UCSD and SDSU and Seoul National and Yonsei Universities.

Research & Thought Leadership

Through EDC’s research team and partnerships with local universities, World Trade Center San Diego releases research that articulates San Diego’s standing in the global economy and key issues important to international trade.

Recent research includes:

 

Interested in working together?

Lucas Coleman
Lucas Coleman

Director, World Trade Center San Diego