BATON ROUGE, La. -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco's economic development trip to East Asia and the Middle East is a long-term recruiting mission that is unlikely to yield immediate agreements for new investment in Louisiana, she said Thursday.

Associated Press

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco

Blanco had meetings with corporate heads in Japan earlier this week and arrived Thursday in China, where she has similar meetings planned. In Kuwait, she is scheduled to meet with government officials about the possibility of building a new petroleum refinery on the Mississippi River.

All the talks are preliminary. Blanco said she's focusing on building relationships that could yield investments years from now.

"Once you open the door to opportunity, we begin to see the results," she said.

Blanco is scheduled to return to Baton Rouge on Nov. 13, according to her press office.

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