Governor taking trip to Mexico despite quake

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday that he is leaving for Mexico this morning to visit Arkansas State University’s new campus in that country and to meet with business and governmental officials to market the state for industry.

The trip is still on despite a major earthquake Tuesday in Mexico, although some details of the trip may change, Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis said Tuesday night. The trip ends Friday.

“The purpose of my trip there, of course, is to support Arkansas State University in its innovative campus,” Hutchinson said at a news conference in his office.

“But it is also to engage in discussions with business leaders as well as governmental leaders to continue marketing Arkansas,” he said. “We should remember Mexico is one of those countries that we have a positive trade balance with. We export more to Mexico than we import from Mexico and so have a very positive relationship there that we want to continue.”

Hutchinson plans to visit Arkansas State University Campus Quertero that reported a few weeks ago it had more than 250 students enrolled in classes and some 214 students moved into its residence halls.

The university was built using $ 100 million from a private foundation led by Mexican businessman Ricardo Gonzales, ASU said. The donation helped fund the first phase of the 200-acre campus: 800,000 square feet of academic and residential buildings and recreational facilities. No state funds have been used to build or operate the Mexico campus, including startup personnel and travel costs, according to ASU.

The governor said he also will meet with officials in aerospace industry, major manufacturers and the Mexico Business Council, plus see Mexico’s secretary of agriculture and undersecretary of foreign affairs.

Davis said Tuesday that Hutchinson would not meet with Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto because the president is dealing with the aftermath of the quake.

Several weeks ago, Hutchinson said he hoped to meet with Nieto. The governor was pressed on a visit to eastern Arkansas to urge Republican President Donald Trump to do no harm when it comes to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Hutchinson said Trump’s aim to change NAFTA emphasizes the importance of his trip to Mexico.

“My message is that NAFTA has been in place for 20 some years. Technology has changed. Industry requirements have changed, so it is time to modernize NAFTA,” the governor said.