Want to increase trade and tourism
A large contingent of local government and business leaders are headed to Mexico for a three-day trade mission.
The Wednesday-through-Friday trip will include Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, city manager David Cavazos, Tucson mayor Jonathan Rothschild, and the CEOs of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, and the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors' Bureau, among others.
The group will visit officials in the nation's capital of Mexico City as well as Hermosillo, which is the capital of the state of Sonora, which borders Arizona to the south.
The leaders point out that Mexico is Arizona's largest trading partner, accounting for one-third of all Arizona exports. Mexico is also, by far, the point of origin of the largest number (70%) of foreign visitors to Arizona. More than 20 million people visit our state each year from Mexico.
Mayor Greg Stanton says as part of encouraging Mexico to buy more Arizona products and send more tourists to our state, "We have to be frank. We have some relationship repairing to do" in the wake of Senate Bill 1070, Arizona's immigration enforcement law.
"It did give our state a false perception that most people in Arizona agree with that type of extreme policy," Stanton said. "Arizonans get that you can have appropriate border security and still adopt policies that increase trade with our friends in Mexico."
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