President Obama is overseas this week in his first visit to Asia as President. His visit reaffirms the strategic importance of the Far East to the United States and likewise, China and Japan represent significant opportunities for North Carolina.
Last month, I visited China and Japan as part of an Asian economic development mission. During my visit, I met with companies doing business in North Carolina and discussed how we can work together to create more jobs for North Carolinians. I also played host to the Japan-U.S. Southeast Association conference.
It is critical that as a state we be engaged in overseas trade. China and Japan are North Carolina’s second and fourth largest trading partners and we already maintain trade and investment offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong. North Carolina is part of the growing global economy and that’s not something to shy away from. We are competing not-only with other nations, but other U.S. states for investments from China and Japan.
I’m glad President Obama is in Asia this week. More cooperation and trade across the Pacific means good things for North Carolina.