INDIANAPOLIS | Gov. Mitch Daniels will lead a delegation of 52 Indiana business and community leaders -- including Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas and NIPSCO executive Donald Babcock -- on a 10-day visit to China and Japan, the governor's office announced Monday.

The Hoosier delegation will arrive in China next Monday and will spend five days in China followed by five days in Japan. The goal of the trip is to bring jobs and investment back to Indiana, the governor said.

"We'll go anywhere to bring back more jobs for Hoosiers," Daniels said. "And we believe in redoubling our efforts in hard times, to gain ground on other states while they're raising taxes and making themselves less attractive to business."

More than 42,000 Hoosiers are employed in Indiana by more than 200 Japanese companies. Those companies have invested more than $9.8 billion in the state, according to the governor's office. Daniels said he hopes future investment in Indiana by Chinese companies will parallel that of Japanese companies.

The Indiana delegation will travel to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Tokyo, as well as Indiana's sister-states of Zhejiang in China and Tochigi Prefecture in Japan. The group will meet with executives from Honda, Mitsubishi, Sony, Toyota and Subaru. Daniels will also host three business receptions for potential investors.

The trip, the fifth Daniels-led overseas trade mission, is being paid for with private donations made to the Indiana Economic Development Foundation. No tax dollars are being used for the trip.

Costas said he is excited to be making his first visit to Asia, but emphasized the trip is not a vacation.

"It's more work than pleasure, but I'm sure just being able to experience the cultures of China and Japan and to understand better the business climate will be an extraordinary experience," Costas said.

The mayor also hopes to make connections with businesses in Asia to lead to more jobs in Valparaiso, he said.

"We're just trying to find opportunities for our city and our citizens in any way that we can. Clearly we all understand we're living in a global market and building relationships is effective for exploring those opportunities," Costas said. "It's a great investment for our community and we trust that it will yield results."

This will be a return trip for Babcock, director of economic development for the power company. He traveled with Daniels to Asia on a trade mission in 2005.

It might seem strange that NIPSCO would participate in an Asian trade mission since the utility's service area is limited to Northern Indiana. But Babcock said these kinds of trips pay off down the line.

"The value for us is partnering with the state and local economic development organizations to build the state's reputation. Since we have a defined service territory and our growth is dependent upon the growth of that service territory, this is a good expenditure of our time and resources," Babcock said.