January 28, 2008 - Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert will market Dallas on Mexico trade trip: Agenda for trade trip probably will include inland port

(Dallas Morning News, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jan. 28--Results may not be instantaneous, but Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert says a trade mission he's leading to Mexico this week will generate long-term benefits for North Texas' corporate, medical and educational institutions.

“We have some terrific institutions doing some great things, and to us, that's an export. But like any asset, you have to market it," Mr. Leppert said. "The intent is to go down and build
relationships, to send a signal that we want to do business."

Mr. Leppert will be joined by more than a dozen officials from city government, the Dallas
Independent School District and various health care and commercial institutions in the largest mission of its kind in years.

The trip is Mr. Leppert's first international journey on behalf of Dallas since becoming mayor in June, and the first trade mission to Mexico by a Dallas mayor since Ron Kirk traveled there in 2001, city officials say.

In 2006, then-Mayor Laura Miller joined a group of U.S. dignitaries in attending the inauguration of Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

A likely prime topic of discussion during the Leppert trip will be the International Inland Port of
Dallas project, which aims to turn a 6,000-acre tract in southeastern Dallas and neighboring
suburbs into a major commercial logistics and distribution center. Dallas has already signed
agreements with four Mexican ports and the Panama Canal to explore and use Dallas as an inland trade port.

Mr. Leppert also insisted that Dallas is in a prime position, thanks in part to downtown
revitalization efforts, to score the relocations of Mexican businesses' headquarters. At least, Mr. Leppert said, he wants to impress upon Mexican officials that Dallas is an excellent location for Mexican businesses' U.S. operations.

"By doing this, you're trying to plant seeds and build a network to reach that goal," Mr. Leppert
said.

Confirmed delegation members include Dallas City Council members Tennell Atkins, Pauline Medrano, Ron Natinsky and Steve Salazar; Dallas school board members Edwin Flores and Jerome Garza; Baylor Health Care System president and CEO Joel Allison; Children's Medical Center Dallas president and CEO Christopher Durovich; bank executive Frank Rosello; businessman Hector Escamilla; and UT Southwestern Medical Center physician John McConnell.

Among the dignitaries on the delegation's working itinerary are U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
Tony Garza, Mexico's secretaries of foreign affairs and education, the governors of Nuevo Leon and Michoacan, and the mayors of Mexico City and Monterrey.

The delegation will briefly travel to Houston today, then to Mexico City. On Tuesday, delegation
members will fly to Monterrey, working there until Thursday.

"It's really important that they understand we have a new mayor who's not only interested in
transportation and the inland port, but also a number of other opportunities with businesses in Dallas," Mr. Salazar said.

Mr. Flores and Mr. Garza said last week they plan to visit several Mexican universities with
which the district works to recruit bilingual math and science teachers.

The Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce has two trade offices in Mexico and regularly
conducts trade missions south of the border. Although only one chamber official is slated to join Mr. Leppert on this week's trip, members are nonetheless intrigued at its potential.

"The city's efforts to attract foreign direct investment is a good thing for our region's businesses and our economy," spokeswoman Jo Trizila said.

For Mr. Leppert, his Mexico mission is but one of several out-of-state trips he's planning to take over the next several months.

Returning to Dallas on Thursday, he'll travel to Arizona on Friday to join Fort Worth Mayor Mike
Moncrief, Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck and other officials to observe operations at Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Ariz. Arlington is hosting the Super Bowl in 2011.

In April, Mr. Leppert is planning to lead a trade delegation to China, where lower-level Dallas
officials have been making inroads for several years.

"That'll be an itinerary that's even tighter than this one for Mexico," Mr. Leppert said.

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

MONDAY: Delegation arrives in Mexico City, attends a private meeting and reception with Tony
Garza, U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

TUESDAY: Delegation meets with Mexico's secretaries of foreign affairs and education and the mayor of Mexico City. Later, in Monterrey, officials attend a dinner hosted by the city's mayor to reaffirm Dallas and Monterrey's "sister city" status.

WEDNESDAY: Delegation attends a breakfast hosted by Dallas medical officials for Monterrey medical officials. Midmorning tours include stops at Monterrey's inland port, medical facilities and facilities operated by Irving-based cosmetics giant Mary Kay.
Later, delegates attend a presentation about Monterrey's inland port and meet with the governors of Nuevo Leon and Michoacan.

THURSDAY: Delegation returns to Dallas. Mr. Leppert conducts a news conference at D/FW
Airport's Terminal D.

SOURCE: City of Dallas

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