Gov. Cuomo's suddenly developing a taste for world travel.

The governor who rarely traveled outside the state until this summer on Tuesday proposed making five international trade missions to promote global business opportunities in New York State.

Cuomo said he plans to visit China, Mexico, Canada, Israel and Italy over the next few years.

Why Italy? Because I want to go to Italy," he told a large international crowd at the Global NY conference at the Jacob Javits Center.

Cuomo said he did not travel during his first term because he didnt want to stir up speculation about his future political ambitions.

I wanted to make the point that my job is the governor of the state of New York and that is a job that you do in the state of New York, he told reporters after his speech. I wanted to make it clear that I wasnt interested in any other job.

That calculus is changing, he said. He visited Israel in August and Afghanistan in late September.

Im now saying essential to my job sometimes requires traveling, he said. These trade missions will be for my job. Theyre essential to doing the job of governor.

A spokesman for the governor could not say how much the trips are expected to cost.

In order to open new markets to the state, Cuomo also announced that he would create an import-export bank for New York State with $35 million in state funding.

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Cuomo proposes international trips to promote global business opportunities in NY