Governor Jay Nixon began a weeklong trip Friday to Europe to promote Missouri businesses.
Senate Majority Leader Ron Richard, a Republican, will be joining the Democratic governor on the trip, as will Democrate state Senator Ryan McKenna. They'll stop in France, the United Kingdom and Belgium.
Missouri businesses exported more than $2.5 billion worth of products to Europe last year - about 20 percent of the state's total exports.
“Our exports over the last two years have been records, and we look forward to continuing to expand that," Nixon said. "This is a trip that's going to add to that economic luster and add to Missouri's economy.”
Nixon said he'll be touting a variety of sectors.
“Well clearly, when you talk about the air sector, Boeing is very strong as well as some of the other contractors on the civilian and military side there," Nixon said. "And then once we get later in the trip, we're going to be getting into some life science issues -- organizations like Monsanto and the Danforth Organization have been very helpful.”
Nixon has made previous trips to South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil and China. The trip is paid for by the Hawthorn Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes economic growth in Missouri.
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