Is it junketeering for the president of our local economic development agency to participate in a trade trip to Japan later this month? No.

South Carolina has benefited handsomely from foreign industrial investment in the past. Japanese companies are among the top investors, accounting for more than 14,000 new jobs. Those companies could be enticed to expand their business here, as Hitachi Metals did recently in buying out the Honeywell facility in Conway.

Our local agency, Partners Economic Development Corp., played a role in effecting that trade. By accompanying Gov. Mark Sanford and S.C. Commerce Secretary Bob Faith to Osaka on Friday and Saturday, Partners President Joe Woodle can put Horry County in line for more such new business.

The money necessary to send Woodle along on the trip is well-spent - especially if the result is a larger Japanese presence here.