From February 26 – March 2, a delegation of 11 Indiana economic development leaders from across the state traveled to the United Kingdom under the framework of the historic UK-Indiana Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  

 

“Hosted by the UK and Welsh governments, the delegation engaged in a week-long program, focusing on clean energy, women’s economic empowerment and rural economic development.”

 

In London, the delegation met with key officials to explore UK policies around the three themes of the visit. Following this, the delegation attended the UK’s Department for Business and Trade’s North America Roadshow in London, where Senior Vice President for Global Investment and Partnerships, Jillian Turner, spoke about Indiana’s clean energy sector to UK businesses looking to invest in North America. The delegation also met with the Thames Estuary Board at the launch of its Global Works initiative on Monday evening. In Wales, the delegation was welcomed by the Welsh Government who continued conversations on policy implementations, took delegates on a tour of the Welsh Parliament, and met with key professors at Swansea University, including demos of solar thermal generation and storage technology.

The first delegation of its kind, UK officials stated that Indiana was setting the tone for its future subnational engagement. As the first state to sign an MOU with the UK post-Brexit, the Indiana-UK MoU prioritizes future focused industries and incorporates working groups in implementation of the MOU, inviting both private sector and academia to come together and focus on creating strategies and solutions to each of the key areas covered in the MOU. On the global stage, Indiana showcased its local-level leadership, particularly how the state’s regional and local economic development organizations (REDO and LEDO) lead development of their local regional and international agendas.

In the following months, the State of Indiana and UK government will hold working group sessions, aligning local businesses with professionals in academia to further discussions on future-focused industries.

Signed in May 2022 at the Indiana Global Economic Summit, the UK-Indiana MOU was the UK’s first state-level trade and economic development agreement. The MOU builds upon well-established cooperation and trade relations, with the aim of strengthening economic development across all regions of the UK and Indiana, as well as a focus on clean energy and sustainability, prioritizing building economies of the future. Through the formalized agreement, both governments strive to enhance cooperation in priority sectors, grow businesses and create jobs.