CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Secretary of Commerce Ed Gaunch believed a recent “development mission” to the Far East was extremely busy and in extremely productive.
Speaking on MetroNews “Talkline” Monday, Gaunch said the highlight of the visit included an in depth meeting with some of the top executives of China Energy and high ranking members of the Chinese government who control the energy sector. Gaunch said the meeting brought the two sides a step or two closer to some specific project announcements.
“They have identified seven projects for West Virginia,” said Gaunch. “I can tell you they are significant.”
.@EdGaunchWV speaks with @HoppyKercheval about the state’s “trade mission” to China and Japan. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIAoe1 pic.twitter.com/PtxgHAtVva
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) June 10, 2019
Due to the constraints of the Memorandum of Understanding Gaunch could not reveal any specifics about the individual projects. He did confirm they are in the Natural Gas and Petro Chemical industries.
“They are definitely interested in those specific industries,” said Gaunch. “Those would result in hundreds or maybe thousands of jobs.”
Two years ago China Energy and the state of West Virginia signed an agreement in which the Chinese expressed plans for up to one BILLION dollars of investment in the Mountain State. Since then, very little else has been reported. Gaunch said China Energy has opened a U.S. office and they met with the staff while in China.
The West Virginia delegation also paid a visit to a retrofitted coal fired power plant which their hosts touted had zero emissions and there was a trip to a natural gas fired plant . Both were located in Beijing.
The trip also included a stop in Japan. West Virginia already has significant ties to the Japanese manufacturers.
“A lot of these was just about making relationships,” Gaunch said. “Both of those countries look for relationships.”
Following a reception in Japan, four new Japanese countries with no ties to West Virginia indicated a desire to come to the state and take a look around for potential investment.