Gov. Jim Doyle's current nine-day trade mission to Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic will expand relationships that may benefit Wisconsin businesses and UW-Madison research facilities.
Doyle is joined on his trip by representatives from Wisconsin companies and the heads of several facilities and departments within the university who hope to gain from the governor's ties to eastern Europe.
'Doing business overseas is about making relationships or expanding relationships with perspective customers, and that's what a lot of these trade missions are about,' said Doyle's spokesperson Anne Lupardus.
For representatives of Wisconsin-based businesses, the trade mission will be confined to Poland and the Czech Republic. The economies of these two nations are the largest of the members recently inducted into the European Union. Because their GDP is expected to grow at a rate of approximately 4 percent annually over the next few years, state officials feel there is a great market there for the state's businesses.
'As they expand, they are going to need more of the kinds of things we produce here: industrial equipment, environmental pollution control equipment, medical devices and transportation equipment,' said Tony Hozeny, spokesperson for the state Chamber of Commerce.
According to Hozeny, 23 percent of Wisconsin's economy comes from manufacturing, and Doyle hopes this trip will help manufacturing companies in Wisconsin find markets abroad.
Doyle will visit Wisconsin's sister-state of Hessen, Germany to meet with Regional President Roland Koch and visit the Wisconsin troops stationed in Germany.
While in Hessen, he will join director of the UW Research Park Mark Buegler to formalize an agreement to establish a sister research park with the Frankfurt Biotechnology Innovation Center. The UW Research Park is about 20 years old and houses over 100 research companies centered heavily on biotechnology.
The parks will 'share technology, share information about projects and probably collaborate on some things in the future,' Hozeny said.
Today, Rod Nilsestuen, secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and Ben Miller, assistant dean to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will take part in a roundtable discussion with German officials concerning the future of bio-fuels and bio-energy in Wisconsin and also abroad.
According to Robin Engel, spokesperson for DATCP, Doyle is very interested in using Wisconsin's 15 million acres of forest and farmland to make Wisconsin the nation's leader in bio-fuels, bio-energy and bio-products.
This mission is Doyle's fourth trip of this kind, having previously traveled to China, Japan and Mexico.
