Congratulations to this year’s winners of the Governor’s North Star Awards for International Excellence. These companies and organizations show the strength and range of Alaska’s international activity.

You’ll see in this report how valuable trade is to our state’s economy. Alaskans have been adding value to our seafood industry for many years by managing our fisheries well. We continue to push hard both at home in the U.S. and in international markets so we can receive the highest possible value for our great fish. As our state’s constitution has dictated from the beginning of statehood, we are committed to sustainability of our precious fisheries.

Education helps trade, too. International courses and programs at our schools and universities help us excel in international markets. We must further prepare Alaska for international investment and trade opportunities by encouraging education that includes strong workforce development and job training for our high-wage energy and mining industries. Those industries are critical to economic development in rural Alaska and are an important part of our international trade picture.

Again, thanks to hard working Alaskans and to our friends around the world for our state’s successes in the international arena.