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Gov. Kaine spends time in Europe
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Richmond (Map, News) - Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is spending a week in Europe drumming up jobs and support for the Jamestown 2007 celebration. Kaine has scheduled business meetings in Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany through Nov. 18. Virginia exports some $1.6 billion in products to these countries, officials say.
“This trade mission is an exciting opportunity to strengthen trade relations with some of our leading export destinations and seek out European companies that are interested in expanding their employment bases in the United States,” Kaine said in a statement.
He started his trip speaking with A.P. Moller-Maersk Group in Denmark. The company owns APM Terminals, which is in the process of completing a $450 million expansion at the Port of Virginia. Kaine met with top Volvo executives in Sweden regarding last week’s announcement that about 1,000 of more than 3,000 employees of the Dublin, Va., truck plant will be laid off. He said he hoped the jobs could come back to the New River Valley area when the market rebounds next year.
“The governor has business meetings in each country to discuss potential business investments in Virginia,” said Christie Miller, a spokeswoman for Virginia Economic Development Partnership, who would not elaborate.
Denmark received nearly $21.5 million in Virginia exports in 2005, including medical products and cosmetics. Virginia exports to Sweden last year totaled $144 million, including $32 million in bituminous coal. Some $241 million in industrial machines were exported to Britain last year, and $1.18 billion of machinery and military supplies to Germany.
Kaine will also promote Jamestown’s 400th anniversary on behalf of the Virginia Tourism Corporation by inviting Europeans and holding a special celebration at Tower Bridge in London, his itinerary said.
“We see this as an international commemoration. ... We are trying to drum up interest and enthusiasm on that side of the pond for what we’ll be doing for most of next year on this side of the pond,” he said.
cgoodman@dcexaminer.com
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