A Saskatchewan cabinet minister will be heading to Mexico next week to inspect the kind of transportation hub the province says it needs if it is to maintain its trading position in North America.

Wayne Elhard, the minister of highways and infrastructure, will visit the GTO Inland Port in Guanajuato City, 370 kilometres northwest of Mexico City, as part of a North America's Super Corridor Coalition (NASCO) conference in that city.

The port is a state-of-the-art facility that combines multiple modes of transport.

NASCO is a non-profit organization comprising state, provincial and municipal governments from Canada, the United States and Mexico, as well as representatives of the private sector. Its goal is to foster trade and economic development along key trade routes through the North American mid-continent.

"Because Saskatchewan's exports to the U.S. and Mexico exceed $12.5 billion, our exporters' ability to access these markets is critical to our continued growth and prosperity," Elhard said in a news release.

"This conference provides an excellent opportunity to improve our relationship with our American and Mexican trading partners and to look for opportunities to enhance Saskatchewan's access to a key strategic trading corridor."

Elhard said he is particularly interested in meeting Mexican officials responsible for the development of the GTO Inland Port because Saskatchewan hopes to incorporate aspects of that project "into current provincial railroad infrastructure, the Regina Region Inter-Modal Project and other potential inland port facilities."

Besides Elhard, the Saskatchewan delegation will include Saskatoon Mayor Donald Atchison, Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco and the economic development authorities of those cities.

The NASCO conference runs June 4-6. Previous conferences have been held in Fort Worth, Texas (2007) and Winnipeg (2006). Canadian participants in NASCO include the provinces of Quebec and Manitoba and the City of Winnipeg.