BATON ROUGE – Today, Governor Bobby Jindal announced an economic development mission to Europe, including meetings in Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, to cultivate more foreign-direct investment opportunities and increased trade between Louisiana and the European region.

Governor Jindal will be meeting with corporate executives of five major companies in both manufacturing and services industries.  These international companies are considering new economic development projects in Louisiana and some of the companies will be planning investment decisions this coming year. Some companies are expected to make final determinations starting in 2016. One of the companies Governor Jindal is meeting with is BASF, which is a major employer in Louisiana.

For some of the meetings, the Governor will be joined by Greg Rusovich, Chairman of the Louisiana International Commerce Board, and Michael Hecht, the President and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc.

Governor Jindal will depart on January 11 and return on January 20.

During the Governor’s trip, he will also give a speech on foreign policy hosted by the Henry Jackson Society and he will meet with a number of political leaders in the United Kingdom.

Governor Jindal said, “Since I took office, we have made incredible economic strides because of our reforms in ethics, workforce development, education, and taxes. We now have more people working and living in Louisiana – and with higher wages – than ever before.

“A major driver of these results has been our successful work to cultivate existing companies in our state and within the United States. This work has helped create thousands of jobs in Louisiana, but this strategy alone will not ensure long-term job growth in our state.

“That’s why we must go global in our efforts to attract new investment and jobs to Louisiana. Louisiana has an amazing story to tell and the tools to attract companies from around the world. This economic development mission to Europe represents a great opportunity to share Louisiana’s story and establish relationships with companies around the world.”

Louisiana has a wide array of features that are attractive to global companies. For example, Business Facilities has ranked LED’s FastStart program the top state workforce training program in the country for the last five years in a row. According to the Tax Foundation and KPMG, Louisiana offers the lowest state/local tax burden in the U.S. for new manufacturing projects, thanks to tax reforms made in 2008.

Additionally, in every national business climate ranking, Louisiana stands higher today than it ever did prior to 2008, with the state now placing among the top 10 states in most national business climate rankings.

Prior to 2008, Louisiana had never placed in the Top 10 of any national ranking of state business climates.
According to BLS, Louisiana has added more than 82,000 private-sector jobs since January 2008, for a private-sector job growth rate of 5.2 percent – nearly triple that of the U.S. (1.8 percent). That growth rate ranks Louisiana No. 5 in the nation and No. 2 in the South.

Over the last few years, on a per capita basis, Louisiana has become the foreign direct investment leader of the South and the nation, and according to the U.S. Chamber, Louisiana is now the top overall performing state for exports in the U.S.

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