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Plano officials (from right,\u00a0Plano International Business Manager Meelis Anton, Economic Development Director Michael Talley, Deputy City Manager Doug McDonald, City Manager Mark Israelson and\u00a0Mayor John Muns) meet with Toyota executives (from left, President of Business Planning & Operation Hiroshi Nambu, General Manager of Sales Operation & Planning Div.\u00a0Koki Yanagisawa and Project Manager\u00a0Kenichi Kachi) on an economic development trip to Asia in spring of 2026. (Courtesy\/City of Plano)<\/p>\n
Courtesy\/City of Plano<\/p>\n
As Plano\u2019s profile as a corporate hub rises, a delegation of five city\u00a0officials traveled across the Pacific Ocean this spring to Japan, Taiwan and Korea to meet with businesses investing in the city<\/a>, make their pitch to new companies and build an understanding with corporate executives more than 7,000 miles from home.<\/p>\n The delegation, which travels from Texas to Asia roughly every three years, is meant to build on Plano\u2019s connections with Asian business sectors. The Collin County city is known for attracting corporate relocations<\/a> and expansions from across the globe, including Japan\u2019s Toyota, Taiwan\u2019s Delta Electronics and Korea\u2019s Samsung.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n For roughly two weeks from March 28 to April 11, Plano Mayor John Muns, City Manager Mark Israelson, Deputy City Manager Doug McDonald, Economic Development Director Michael Talley<\/a> and International Business Manager Meelis Anton met with leaders from more than a dozen companies across Asia to build relationships with businesses investing in Plano and meet prospective partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n McDonald said Plano has established a strong network in Asia with companies that have become \u201ccritical partners we have here in our community,\u201d and visiting executives in person keeps \u201cthe momentum going<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The trip cost around $90,000, according to city officials, for hotels, airfare, transportation, food and other expenses. The city also sent leaders to Sweden last year<\/a> to meet with companies in Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis is really just to continue building those relationships [with] the Toyotas, the Samsungs, the Deltas of the world, from Taiwan, Korea and Japan that have chosen Plano<\/a> and continue to choose Plano to expand here,\u201d Talley said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n At a fireside chat in Taiwan briefing business executives on Plano,\u00a0Mayor John Muns (center) speaks alongside Sysgration executive T.F. Hsieh (left) and the director of the state of Texas’ Taiwan office Joe Nieh (right) in spring of 2026. (Courtesy\/City of Plano)<\/p>\n Courtesy\/City of Plano<\/p>\n Plano\u2019s story\u00a0<\/p>\n People outside of the U.S. have often seen the television show Dallas or know of the Dallas Cowboys, McDonald said. But Plano\u2019s goal in traveling across the globe is to leave people with a better idea of their options in Dallas-Fort Worth if they are looking to expand to Texas\u00a0\u2014 and to sell them on Plano<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOther companies start getting more and more interested in what we\u2019re doing and then why their competitors and or their friends are investing in the city and the region,\u201d Talley said. \u201cWe\u2019re happy to tell that part of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n City officials updated companies on new developments\u00a0\u2014 like AT&T announcing it\u2019s moving its headquarters to Plano<\/a> and the Japanese luxury Miyako Hybrid Hotel<\/a> breaking ground in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n They also met with banks in Taiwan and Japan, McDonald said. Financial services are growing in D-FW and the Texas Stock Exchange<\/a> plans to start trading this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies have been looking to get loans to go and actually invest and start a new location in the U.S.,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cIt was important for us to make sure the banks know \u2026 they\u2019re coming to us and they want to be in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n The trip to Asia was also meant to build cultural understanding.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Back home, Plano officials are seeking to \u201ccultivate the diversity of our community through festivals and pep rallies,\u201d McDonald said, to welcome employees from across the globe.\u00a0<\/p>\n Plano Mayor John Muns, left,\u00a0speaks with Korea International Trade Association Chairman Jin Sik Yoon, right, during a trip to Asia in spring of 2026 to bolster the city’s\u00a0economic development. (Courtesy\/City of Plano)<\/p>\n Courtesy\/City of Plano<\/p>\n Choosing Plano<\/p>\n T.F. Hsieh, general manager of Taiwanese manufacturing company Sysgration<\/a>, met with Plano officials in Taiwan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Sysgration announced its expansion to a 98,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Plano in 2024 with plans to house over 150 employees by 2029. The city offered the company a $2.4 million grant to invest in Plano and bring jobs.<\/p>\n Most of Sysgration\u2019s customers are in the U.S., Hsieh said, which incentivized the company to build a North American headquarters in Texas. D-FW made sense, he said, because of the universities nearby\u00a0\u2014 \u201cwe need a lot of brain power,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sysgration considered several cities before choosing Plano. Choosing which city to invest in was like picking out a BMW, Hsieh said. Plano, Richardson, Garland and McKinney all were good options<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Plano officials offered the company support and guidance, he said, and stood out from neighbors as \u201cvery good sales people.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of effort to come into a market that you\u2019ve never been in,\u201d Talley said. \u201cThere are going to be issues\u2026. but the city is going to be right there along with you to make sure you get through those problems.\u201d<\/p>\n Eng Taing, president of Delta Electronics in Plano<\/a>, said his company chose to expand from Taiwan to D-FW because of the telecom corridor in the region and to \u201cmitigate the risk of supply chain being in Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n Plano was \u201ca natural fit\u201d for Delta<\/a>, he said\u00a0\u2014 the state is business-friendly and the city government offered a robust incentive package for investing in Plano and creating jobs, including a 10-year, 50% property tax rebate and $5.9 million grant. There is also a talented workforce in the area, he said, and it is centrally located, safe and has a good quality of life.<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Plano officials\u2019 visit, Taing said, improved their ability to work together in Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been perfect,\u201d Taing said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a few bumps in the road, but every time I call the city, they\u2019re more than willing to help. They\u2019ve been a great partner for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Plano officials met with the following companies while\u00a0traveling to Asia to bolster economic development initiatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n Japan<\/p>\n Kintetsu Korea<\/p>\n SK Signet Taiwan<\/p>\n Sysgration Email tips on all things Collin County to lilly.kersh@dallasnews.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plano officials (from right,\u00a0Plano International Business Manager Meelis Anton, Economic Development Director Michael Talley, Deputy City Manager Doug…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[910,160,162,161,88338,92203,91360,88944],"class_list":["post-261559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-business","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-tp-collin-county","tag-tp-culture","tag-tp-ntta","tag-tp-plano"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775016909_917_rawImage.jpg\" "\\"#\\"")
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\nDENSO
\nToyota Motor Corporation
\nToyota\u00a0Tsusho Corporation
\nNTT DATA
\nJETRO
\nTaisei<\/p>\n
\nKITA Headquarters
\nCJ Group
\nSuwon City Investment Promotion Division
\nSamsung<\/p>\n
\nDelta Electronics
\nLite-On<\/p>\n