San Jose has China boosters — in Ireland

Gotta love the business journal....has some of the best material out there...
Chinese in Ireland...oh the luck of the IRISH!
read on


Eli Segall
Reporter - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
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San Jose city officials could get some help in their efforts to lure Chinese companies to the South Bay.
The source? Ireland.
The capital city of Dublin recently established a sister city affiliation with China’s capital, Beijing, and it "sees opportunity to bring San Jose into this relationship," Kim Walesh, San Jose’s director of economic development, said in a memorandum on Tuesday.
San Jose officials discussed this and other topics early last month, when a 16-member San Jose-Dublin Sister City delegation visited Dublin Oct. 6-10.
“San Jose could benefit from having high-level contacts in Beijing, since we are interested in Chinese companies coming to San Jose to serve the U.S. market,” Walesh said in the memo.
Walesh — along with other city officials and various South Bay executives — has participated in a consortium known as the “Silicon Valley-China Business Connect.” Group members started meeting more than a year ago, with the goal of luring Chinese technology companies to enter or expand in the region.
Members include accounting firm Deloitte, business lender Silicon Valley Bank , real estate brokerage Colliers International , and law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP.
Walesh did not reference the consortium in her memo.
She did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
As of early September, consortium members had not finalized how they would actually operate. However, they have said they do not plan to open a permanent office in China.