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Mayor Bing Heads To The 'Detroit of Europe'

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is going to Italy to visit the city often called "the Detroit of Europe."

Bing spokeswoman Karen Dumas says Friday that Bing will be in Turin next week to meet with officials and discuss land use and economic development. He also plans to tour Fiat Group SpA facilities and talk about further collaborations with the company that's controlled Chrysler Group LLC since it emerged from bankruptcy last year.

Bing hopes to see how the Italian city has diversified its economy and survived a serious financial crisis. Bing puts Detroit's deficit at about $85 million; the city council's fiscal analyst says it's about $125 million.

Bing was invited by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a nonpartisan U.S. public policy and grantmaking organization.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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