The Associated Press
OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee will leave at the end of the month for a 9-day trade mission to Korea and Japan.
Inslee will be joined by directors of the state agriculture and commerce departments, as well as 60 leaders from the business, education, economic development and local government communities, he announced Friday.
The delegation will focus on trade and investment in the agriculture, aerospace, advanced manufacturing and technology sectors.
Inslee said the state’s trade and cultural ties with Japan and Korea run deep.
“As their economies thrive, consumers and businesses in Korea and Japan open up new demand and markets for the quality products from Washington,” the governor said in a statement.
Washington exported $7.4 billion in goods last year to Japan, making Japan the state’s third largest export market.
South Korea is the sixth largest export market, at $2.8 billion.
Inslee will leave on Aug. 28, heading first to Seoul, where he will meet with government officials and business leaders, and address a technology conference.
He will then travel to Kobe, Japan.
In addition to meetings with leaders, Inslee will visit the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution to learn how Washington state can better be prepared for a major earthquake.
The delegation will head to Nagoya, Japan, on Sept. 2, where they will visit to the Mitsubishi Regional Jet assembly line.
The final stop will be Tokyo, where Inslee has scheduled business and government meetings before concluding the trip Sept. 5 with a Washington food and wine products fair at a Costco store in Makuhari, Tokyo.
