Perry wraps up economic trip to Italy

MILAN, Italy (KXAN) - Gov. Rick Perry spent his final full day in Italy meeting with Chairman Vittorio Ghisolfi and other executive leadership from M&G Group , an Italian company that last year announced plans to open a facility in Corpus Christi.

The governor also met with Lombardy President Roberto Formigoni to discuss competitiveness and biotechnology, and Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo.

Milan, where the economic conference Perry attended was held, is the capital of the Lombardy region.

Perry and first lady Anita Perry return Wednesday from the economic development trip. It was funded by TexasOne and the Ambrosetti Forum .

“I always appreciate the opportunity to meet with employers that are looking to Texas as the best place to grow their business, and I’m pleased M&G is finalizing its plans to create hundreds of jobs for Texans in Corpus Christi,” Gov. Rick Perry said. “The strong business climate we’ve fostered in Texas continues to attract employers from around the world to create jobs and opportunity in the Lone Star State because of our low taxes, reasonable regulations, fair courts and skilled workforce.”

M&G is one of the largest producers of PET resin for packaging applications in the Americas, with a production capacity in 2012 of approximately 1.6 million tons per year. In May 2011, the company announced plans to expand in the U.S. with two plants that will manufacture one million tons of PET per year and 1.2 million tons of PTA per year.

The new plants will generate approximately 250 new jobs, with an additional 700 indirect positions anticipated and as many as 3,000 jobs created during construction.

“I’m glad to have had the opportunity to personally reiterate to Gov. Perry, during his recent visit to Italy, our commitment to Corpus Christi for the world’s largest PET integrated plant” said Marco Ghisolfi, CEO of M&G’s Polymers Business Unit. “The synergies of the location, adding to the unmatched size and integration efficiency of the plant, will further remove logistic costs, making our operation by far the world’s lowest cost.”

No tax dollars were used for the Perry’s travel and accommodations on the trip to Italy, according to Perry's office.