DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) – The Mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth are planning a trip to Canada to promote trade and tourism.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said the trip will also include business leaders from North Texas.
“Our message is local that we know that all trade is ultimately going to be local. We have to push the fact, just as we did in Mexico, that Dallas and Fort Worth are open for business,” he said.
Mayor Mike Rawlings said the relationship is vital to the economic success in the Metroplex.
“It’s very important that we keep that trade up in the Dallas Fort Worth area. It’s one of the key reasons we’ve grown so much,” he said.
They’ll make stops in Toronto and Montreal. Canada is the area’s second biggest international trading partner.
In 2016, $95 million in business was done between the Dallas Fort Worth area and Canada.
“We’re looking to learn what it is, where there looking to invest and what the biggest opportunities are,” said Price.
Rawlings said the trip carries added meaning because of the Trump administration’s plans to renegotiate NAFTA.
“It’s an important point as we face what has happened in North America that the trade constantly goes back and forth,” he said.
Price said the mayors are trying to shake a reputation of the Metroplex as small cities sitting in between bigger cities within the two coasts.
“We’ve got so much to offer and people are always blown away that you’re looking at the ninth and sixteenth largest cities in America,” she said.
125 Canadian companies operate in North Texas and both Mayors Price and Rawlings said they hope to expand that number.
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