Gov. Eric Holcomb and Maj. Gen. Dale Lyles in Kuwait on Nov. 20 during Holcomb’s 27th and final scheduled international economic development trip. (Screenshot from Zoom)
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is wrapping up his last international economic development trip — which included stops in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait — as part of an ongoing effort to target partnerships in both the life sciences and defense sectors.
The international trip was Holcomb’s 27th since he took office in 2017 and marks his last foreign jaunt before he passes the baton in January to his predecessor, Mike Braun.
The cost of the travel was paid through private donations to the Indiana Economic Development Foundation. The same funding scheme has sponsored Holcomb’s other trips, too.
“A lot of good things tend to happen when you show up,” Holcomb said of his global travels, speaking from Kuwait during a Wednesday Zoom call with reporters.
“Quite frankly, showing up is obviously the bare minimum to developing relationships, but it’s so appreciated,” he continued. “And in this neck of the woods, so to speak, and in this region, and for a state like Indiana that has such a good reputation in terms of advanced manufacturing and life sciences and ag biotech, we have a huge upside to developing relationships in the business community.”
In Saudi Arabia, Holcomb and other Indiana officials discussed opportunities to grow cultural and economic relationships between the two regions, according to the governor’s office.
Quite frankly, showing up is obviously the bare minimum to developing relationships, but it’s so appreciated.
– Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb
The group left Indianapolis Indianapolis last week and arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday. There, the delegation met with U.S. Ambassador Michael Ratney and Hoosier families who are part of the U.S. Embassy community.
Company visits included Zimmer Biomet’s Riyadh facility, a medical technology corporation, as well as a stop in the town of Diriyah to discuss tourism and cultural development.
Saudi Arabia and Indiana exchanged $418 million worth of goods in 2023. The Hoosier State is home to three businesses owned by Saudi Arabians, including Gas Equipment Co. and SABIC Innovative Plastics. Three Hoosier corporations also operate in Saudi Arabia.
“We were able to sit down with the (Saudi Arabian) minister of defense, and to have the appreciation shared really meant the world to me, and it was touching,” Holcomb said. “And then to think about all the other business that we were able to do in Saudi Arabia — meeting with the minister of investment, and with their version of the FDA, and of health, and of sports — we were able to make introductions, and now we have a to-do list when we get back.”
When asked if he had any reservations about partnering with the Middle Eastern nation, Holcomb kept a positive outlook. Saudi Arabia has been accused of many human rights violations.
“Saudi Arabia is very welcoming and an ally and a friend to America,” he said. “They shared with us that they were blessed with oil, and blessed with the sun, and also blessed to be in a dangerous neighborhood. We have had relations with them, working on national security issues, for as long as I’ve been around.”
Hoosier soldiers in Kuwait
In Kuwait, Hoosier representatives also traveled to a military base where Indiana soldiers are currently deployed. Holcomb additionally met with Kuwait officials to discuss opportunities to “deepen ties between the state of Indiana and Kuwait.”
The government of Kuwait built and funded the military installation, which also hosts the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Some 600 Hoosier soldiers began their deployment to Kuwait last month in support of Operation Spartan Shield — a United States operation “to strengthen defense relationships and build partner capacity through leader engagements, multinational exercises and response planning,” according to the Indiana Guard.
The mission returned many of the unit’s soldiers, who deployed for the same mission in 2019, to the Middle East hot bed with tensions rising throughout the region.
Officials said the deployment is expected to last twelve months, with nine months spent overseas.
“They’re going to miss Thanksgiving this year. They’re going to miss Christmas this year. They’re going to miss the New Year’s this year back home with their families in Indiana, but hopefully they’re back by next year,” Holcomb said of the Indiana soldiers currently stationed in Kuwait. “But to be able to be around them and say thank you and have a Thanksgiving lunch with them in person, and to be able to check in … they would make you proud to see them in action, in uniform, over here.”
While in Kuwait City, Holcomb also visited the U.S. Embassy to meet with U.S. Ambassador Karen Sasahara prior to hosting a roundtable with local business stakeholders in the advanced manufacturing, life sciences, defense and agbioscience industries.
Kuwait imported $28 million worth of Indiana goods in 2023, including chemicals, fabricated metal, machinery, plastics and rubber and transportation equipment.
“We were able to cobble together some very, very good meetings in the corporate community after we got back from the base today, and so I’m chomping at the bit to do more,” the governor said, acknowledging that “this very well could be my last trip.”
“But that doesn’t mean it’s the last work I’m going to do before I leave,” he noted. “We’ll be working until the last hour, the last day — and some of that is on deals that I hope are getting teed up right now, from over these last few days.”
Holcomb weighs in on mass deportations
Gen. R. Dale Lyles, head of the Indiana National Guard, further indicated on the conference call that — if called upon by U.S. officials — Hoosier soldiers are prepared to assist with mass deportations.
Such marching orders could come from president-elect Donald Trump, who on Monday confirmed that he would declare a national emergency to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission.
Trump has pledged to get started on mass deportations as soon as he enters office.
“The Indiana National Guard, first and foremost, works for the governor, and so we answer to the governor, but we also have a dual mission, a federal mission,” Lyles said when asked about the Hoosier Guard’s ability to answer a federal call for assistance. “The executive branch that we would potentially work for is something that we would just have to stand by and see where that mission comes from.”
Lyles said further the Indiana National Guard “is indeed trained for domestic operations,” as well as international ones.
“We follow the orders given by the executive branch after we follow the orders given by our governor,” Lyles added. “We are well-manned and well-equipped and well-trained to execute missions that are given to us.”
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