MARYLAND (WBFF) — Gov. Wes Moore’s international trip to Japan and South Korea earlier this year cost Maryland taxpayers about $322,000 — roughly $72,000 more than originally estimated, according to The Baltimore Sun’s review of receipts and other financial records from the trip.
The costs included $120,000 to fly 19 people across the globe, many of them in business class, and roughly $94,000 for hotel rooms as Moore and the traveling delegation looked for avenues to help reverse Maryland’s sluggish economic growth.
Moore and his staff described that mission as a success, with several new or renewed agreements with foreign partners declared during the trip and dozens more in the works behind the scenes, though they have yet to secure any major new investments resulting from those conversations.
The Democratic governor’s six-day voyage was his first major international economic development trip. Maryland governors have been traveling abroad on similar trade missions for four decades, including Moore’s immediate predecessor who also visited Tokyo and Seoul twice in eight years.
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AloJapan.com