Daejeon City Signs Agreement to Promote Exchange with Montgomery County, USA

Expansion of Exchanges and Support for Corporate Entry in the Bio Sector

Mayor Marc Elrich of Montgomery County (left) and Mayor Lee Jang-woo of Daejeon are posing for a commemorative photo. / Daejeon City

Daejeon City signed a memorandum of understanding on the 10th with its sister city, Montgomery County, USA, which visited Daejeon, to activate economic exchanges including mutual support for corporate advancement.

Montgomery County's main industries are biohealth and biotechnology, housing major government bio-related institutions such as the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with more than 300 bio-related companies and about 40,000 technicians.

Daejeon City and Montgomery County established a sister city cooperation relationship in 2017 and have maintained continuous exchanges, including participation in the 2017 Daejeon APCS, the 2022 Daejeon United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Congress, and the 2023 Daejeon World Innovative Cities Forum.

Mayor Lee Jang-woo of Daejeon said, "I hope this visit by the Montgomery County delegation will serve as a foothold for expanding exchanges in the bio sector between the two cities as well as for Daejeon bio companies to enter the U.S. market," adding, "I also ask for great interest in the Daejeon economic delegation visiting Seattle and Montgomery County in June."

The mayor invited the Montgomery County mayor to the (tentatively named) World Economic Science Cities Alliance founding ceremony scheduled for September.

Mayor Marc Elrich said, "I am pleased to sign the memorandum of understanding to strengthen exchanges with Daejeon, a science and technology-centered city," and added, "Let us use this visit as an opportunity to further expand human exchanges and practical cooperation in advanced industrial fields between the two cities."

On the day, the Montgomery County delegation attended a welcome reception and corporate exchange meeting, followed by inspections of the Institute for Basic Science (Heavy Ion Accelerator) and Ligand Pharmaceuticals (bio company).

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