L.A. Mayor to Embark on 10-Day Asia Tour

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti would embark on a 10-day trip to Asia, aimed at strengthening relationships and boosting investment and tourism in Los Angeles.

The group of business leaders and city officials will visit Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon.

Representatives of the Port of Los Angeles,Los Angeles World Airports, and the L.A. Tourism and Convention Board would also be traveling with Garcetti.

China,Japan,South Korea andVietnam are Los Angeles’ four leading trading partners. Japan also ranks as No. 1 source of foreign-owned enterprises in the Southern California region with 2,541 firms, almost 86,000 employees and more than $5.3 billion in wages.

Garcetti’s office said that Los Angeles County has the largest Asian-American population of any county in the United States at 1.5 million, or 15 percent of the county’s total population.

Last year, around 1.1 million visitors from China, 342,000 from Japan and 315,000 from South Korea came to Los Angeles County.