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Mackinac Speaker Mitch Daniels Says Michigan Needs More Foreign Investment

MACKINAC (WWJ) Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels will deliver one of the keynote addresses at the Mackinac Policy Conference this week.

And as WWJ's Tom Jordan reports, he'll have a few choice words about the need for international investment in the local economy.

"Indiana has led the nation in foreign per capita direct investment," he said. "I went to Asia every year to thank those who were here already, the Hondas, Toyotas, Sonys, and others, to recruit other companies."

Daniels, who now serves as president of Purdue University, says he'll also speak on the need for Michigan to focus on STEM education, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

"The single most important need we have in America economically was for at least 10,000 more engineers a year."

Daniels says he has hope for Detroit's turnaround. He said investments, like last week's announcement of $100 million from JP Morgan Chase, needs to be invested primarily in the fundamentals of any good government.

Daniels, who is credited with sound financial management in his two terms as governor of Indiana says for Detroit's turnaround to succeed, it first and foremost needs develop the right climate for job growth.

Would he like to oversee the turnaround from the Oval Office? Although he was regularly urged by fans in the Republican Party to run for president in 2012, he declined. And Daniels told WWJ he will not seek the seat in 2016.

 

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