Governor's Mexico Trip To Strengthen Utah’s International Presence

Governor Herbert embarked on a four-day trip to Mexico, Monday with the goal to increase Utah's exports and strengthen relationships with potential economic partners.

Spokesman for Governor Herbert’s Office, Marty Carpenter said this trip is going the “final three feet” in making Utah a strong economic competitor.

“It’s that final three feet—shaking a hand, making a personal acquaintance—that sometimes makes a big difference in doing business with an international partner,” said Carpenter. 

Carpenter said Herbert will meet with more than a dozen business and elected officials in both Mexico City and Guadalajara.

Carpenter also said talks will not only focus on Utah exports, but intangible goods Utah has to offer as well.

“We have a young, well-educated and highly bilingual workforce including many students across the state that have Spanish immersion programs, so they start speaking Spanish from the time they’re in kindergarten; that’s very attractive to businesses in Mexico that want to expand," said Carpenter. "It’s a young, well-educated workforce, it’s our low, steady, consistent tax rate; the kind of things that companies in other states are attracted to when they come to Utah also apply to companies that are in other countries.”

Carpenter said the trip is in line with the governor’s goal to increase Utah’s exports by $9 billion by the end of 2015.