GOVERNOR PHIL BREDESEN TO CONDUCT ASIAN TRADE MISSION
MEDIA TELECONFERENCE WITH BREDESEN FROM JAPAN SLATED FOR OCT. 28

Nashville - Governor Phil Bredesen will travel to Japan and Korea for meetings with Asian business and government leaders from October 22 - 31. The trade mission is a bi-annual trip that has become a cornerstone of the state's international economic development outreach for nearly three decades.

Joining the Governor will be more than 50 business executives, local elected officials and community leaders from across the state. Area residents traveling with the Governor will be Birdsong Resort, Marina and Campground and Tennessee River Freshwater Pearl Farm owner, Bob Keast, Camden; Mayor of Nashville Bill Purcell; TVA Chairman Bill Baxter, Knoxville; Jackson-Madison County Chamber of Commerce President Paul Latture, Jackson; West Tennessee Industrial Association (WTIA) Executive Director Mike Philpot, Jackson. Other Administration officials include Matthew Kisber, Commissioner of the State Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD), and Kevin Lavender, Commissioner of the State Department of Financial Institutions.

While in Japan, the Governor will meet with top executives of Japan's leading corporations, including Bridgestone, Toshiba, Toyota, Brother International and Fuji Photo Film. Bredesen, members of his Administration and business leaders will network with a number of Japanese and U.S. government officials, including Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker.

While there, a number of FAM (familiarization) tours are planned for the group. Keast and others will visit the Mikimoto Pearl Island, Toba Bay. Owner of the Tennessee River Freshwater Pearl Farm, Bob Keast, will be paying a courtesy visit to the like attraction of his business. Mikimoto's pearl farm is the number one attraction in Japan drawing a surplus of 3 million visitors annually.

While in Osaka, the Governor will also speak and take part in sessions of the 27th annual Joint Conference of the Japan/U.S. Southeast and the Southeast U.S./Japan Associations. The conference will be attended by more than 500 delegates from Japan and the Southeast U.S., including three other Governors and executives from Japan's largest corporations.

Following the visit to Japan, the Governor and his Administration officials will travel to Korea where a number of meetings have been scheduled with Korean business leaders, trade representatives, and U.S. Ambassador Thomas Hubbard.

Japan is the world's second largest market, with 125 million people. More than 15 percent of the world's economy is in Japan and 25 percent of high tech products are manufactured there.

Japan has been one of the Tennessee's highest export markets, with exports valued at more than $600 million or greater than 5 percent of the state's total exports. Products exported include vehicles, medical instruments, machinery and plastics.

Japan is also a major foreign investor in Tennessee jobs, with more than 150 Japanese operations currently in Tennessee, employing 38,000 Tennesseans through capital investments in excess of $9 billion. Tennessee is the second-highest recipient of jobs from Japan, behind California.

Earlier this year, Governor Bredesen announced a new investment commitment by Toyota of $124 million to build a state-of-the-art plant in Jackson, and a $250 million investment commitment by Nissan to expand production in Smyrna and Decherd creating another 1,500 jobs. Japanese automotive investments in Tennessee over the past 20 years have spurred the growth of automotive-related businesses, which now employ nearly 154,000 Tennesseans, representing 33 percent of the state's manufacturing workforce and 5.7 percent of total state employment. Of the seven southeastern states, Tennessee has accrued 28 percent of Japanese investment and 25 percent of the related jobs for the region.

The Korean Republic was Tennessee's 10th best trading partner with exports valued at more than $230 million or more than 2 percent of the state's total exports.

Tennessee aggressively pursues the re-location of Japanese industry to the state offering more job opportunity to residents. West Tennessee's area goes well represented with known key people to bring the foreign businesses to out volunteer state.