The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - Gov. Ernie Fletcher is planning an economic development trip to Japan in an effort to attract a company there to build a factory in western Kentucky.

Fletcher made the announcement in Mayfield on Wednesday. Fletcher's spokesman confirmed the trip Thursday.

Fletcher said he is planning to meet with the CEO of a company that state officials want in Kentucky. He would not disclose the company.

The governor plans to leave May 28 and be gone about a week on a "very aggressive itinerary," spokesman Doug Hogan said. The governor's wife, Glenna, and Economic Development Secretary Gene Strong are among the Kentucky delegation, Hogan said.

"This is a trip to entice new industry from Japan to all parts of Kentucky," Hogan said.

However, Fletcher said in Mayfield that at least one of the factories he's trying to bring would be in western Kentucky, east of the Jackson Purchase region.

It would take at least $16 million in tax breaks before Kentucky would be able to compete with other states, Fletcher said. Other states competing for the company have lower corporate taxes than Kentucky, he said.

Fletcher was trying to muster support for his proposal to overhaul the state's tax code, spokesman Jason Keller said.

"Because of our lack of a tax modernization plan, we've been put in this deficit as compared to the other states," Keller said.

While he's in Japan, Fletcher also plans to visit Kentucky's economic development office in Tokyo, Keller said. Fletcher will also visit with Toyota, Keller said.

Kentucky has other economic development offices in Brussels, Belgium; Santiago, Chile; and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Since he's been governor, Fletcher has gone on one other economic development trip, Keller said. It was to Colorado in March.

"The governor has been involved with much of the deal planning from his office, but he has not been able to travel much because of the legislative session," Keller said.

In February, Fletcher went to Washington for a meeting of the Republican Governors' Association. And in April, he traveled to the Southern Republican Leadership conference in Miami.