Jeff Landry is conducting his first overseas economic development trip as governor as he’s in South Korea. The governor’s office says Landry is there to strengthen relationships with major South Korean companies currently doing business in Louisiana or considering future investment in the state. Economist Doctor Loren Scott says the cheap price of natural gas makes Louisiana an attractive place to invest.
“Well, if you’re making chemicals, or you’re trying to make steel, you’re using heat from natural gas. What you want to do, you’re using tremendous amounts of natural gas, you want to chase those cheap molecules,” Scott explained.
Scott says the price of natural of gas is also cheap in south Texas so there’s competition in attracting companies from Asia who are looking to produce material using natural gas.
“We both have a lot of natural gas. We both have a lot of pipelines that make that natural gas accessible. We also have land that’s on waterways that allow deep draft ships to get into the Gulf of Mexico and into world markets,” Scott explained.
According to the governor’s office, South Korea is Louisiana’s fourth largest import market and Korea is also the world’s third largest liquefied natural gas importer in the world, which includes exports from two different LNG facilities in south Louisiana.
Scott says these face-to-face visits in other countries can result in more jobs and investment in Louisiana.
“This makes a difference. Having that personal contact makes a difference. And the pledges that the Governor will make makes a difference in person,” Scott said.
The governor’s office did not say when Governor Landry will return to Louisiana.
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