Governor Jan Brewer is headed off to Europe this week in hopes of boosting trade. Arizona Public Radio’s Howard Fischer reports.
The governor’s first stop will be Norway. It’s not exactly the state’s biggest trading partner. Far from that — it falls somewhere around 35th, far behind places like Russia and Saudi Arabia. Gubernatorial press aide Andrew Wilder said there has been some increase in business. Total trade, both imports and exports, went from $31 million in 2008 to $93 million last year. But, he said the national figures show there’s lots of room for improvement.
“Exports between the U.S. and Norway is nearly $200 billion. Imports just under $150 billion. And we’d like to, you know, get a bigger piece of that pie,” Wilder said.
Wilder said Arizona exports to Norway include navigational equipment, control instruments and communications gear, along with fabricated metals. And, coming here from there are aerospace products and parts. But, not a lot of what some people might think about when considering products of Norway.
“Sardines are not on the Top 10 list,” Wilder said.
Brewer also will try to drum up some business in Ireland and then stop for a speech on Arizona and some Q and A at the Oxford Union Society before heading home.
