To enhance economic development between Massachusetts and Asia, Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick announced Friday that he will be leading a coalition of government and industry leaders on a trade mission to the region.
Pamela Goldberg, the CEO of Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, which aims to facilitate economic development in the Massachusetts technology sector, said she saw the mission as a potential way to enhance both innovative technological collaborations with the region, and expand Massachusetts’ technology market.
“MassTech aims to assist the state leaders in establishing new connections between innovators in the Commonwealth and the dynamic technology leaders in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore,” she said. “In addition to spurring new technical collaborations in critical sectors such as Big Data and Health IT, this mission will also help us identify new markets for Massachusetts’ cutting edge technologies.”
The Massachusetts–Asia Innovation Partnership Mission will take place from Dec. 7 to 17. Delegates will meet with government officials and business leaders in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, where the focus will be on opportunities for job creation, according to the Friday release.
“In order for Massachusetts to create lasting growth and opportunity for our residents, we must compete for jobs on the global playing field,” Patrick said in the release. “This mission offers us a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our relationships with Asia’s fastest growing economies.”
Delegates traveling to Asia with the governor include representatives from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
Additionally, state government officials in areas of economic development, energy and environmental affairs, transportation, trade and investment will be involved. Meetings between the delegates and their Asian counterparts will emphasize their corresponding sectors.
Past trade missions with similar goals were successful. A trade mission led by Patrick in February to Colombia resulted in a signing of a formal collaboration between Massachusetts and Colombia in a number of sectors. An October visit by Patrick to Canada placed special emphasis on clean energy and tourism, resulting in expanded partnership between Massachusetts and Canada.
As of 2012, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore represent Massachusetts’ third, eleventh and sixteenth largest export partners respectively.
Matt Kakley, the communications coordinator of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, said efforts by Massachusetts to cultivate relationships with foreign countries have the potential to greatly benefit both the state and the countries visited.
“Overall, these trips are focused on relationship building and discussions with other countries on best practices,” he said. “What they’re doing, what their clean-energy sectors are doing, and how we can [take their advice], as well as share what we’re doing in Massachusetts with them and their companies.”
Rodrigo Wagner, an assistant professor of economics at Tufts University, said the trade mission, while apparently beneficial to Massachusetts, should be operated with discretion by the Patrick administration.
“Massachusetts is a very innovative state and is at the forefront,” he said. “Companies in Asia might need solutions that Massachusetts companies can help with, and the benefits to Massachusetts are clear there. But it’s important that if the governor really represents the people of Massachusetts, he should be transparent about how the benefits are being distributed to the people of Massachusetts.”
A number of residents said they hope the trip will be beneficial to the Massachusetts job industry and economy.
David Ford, 50, of Jamaica Plain, said he sees a great amount of potential in the plan.
“You don’t know what people in places need unless you do the research to find out,” he said. “If, five or ten years later, Massachusetts is trading healthfully with other regions, that would [make it worth it]. But I don’t know that there’s a way to decide that before the results are in.”
Avery Schneider, 24, of Boston, said the diversity of the job market in Asia would be beneficial to the diverse city of Boston.
“[Asia] has communist societies and capitalist societies and they’re all sort of clashing, but still trading because of necessity,” she said. “There’s an argument that could be made that the Asian marketplace could serve as a microcosm for the world.”
Marco Masia, 37, of Brookline, said he is confident the trip will give Massachusetts needed information to make the economy stronger.
“[The trip] is worth it because we can learn about different systems,” he said. “I’m not an expert about economy, but the economy is a very complex model, so there are many things to look at. We have great systems here, that work quite well, but we can always get better.”
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