Newsletter: Houston MOTIA July 2021 Highlights

Dear Friends of the Mayor’s Office of Trade and International Affairs (MOTIA),

We have many things to be proud of in Houston, and while we all know how great Houston is, over the past year we have seen increasing recognition as a leading Global City.

Houston was highlighted as one of the 100 Best Places in the World by Times Magazine. The city continues to move up on global rankings around the world and as Paper City notes "Houston Rides a Wave of Major International Praise" and that we can concur with.

Houston's plethora of exciting dining options is not the only thing we were recognized for this month. As a center for world-changing innovations in energy, life sciences, and aerospace for over a century, we continue to be a leader in global innovation. Over the past several months, Houston ranked as Nr. 8 on a list of the Top 100 World’s Most Innovative Cities, No. 2 in the U.S. for Top Cities of the Future, and Nr. 3 on the U.S. Convention Cities Index.

Houston welcomes nearly 100,000 new residents every year, adding 1.1 million new residents over the last decade, marking the fastest population growth rate among the 10 most populous U.S. Metros. In his article “Houston for Tourists? If You Think That’s a Joke, the Joke’s on You” there is a reason William O’Connor, Travel Editor at Daily Beast Travel, poses the question "Have you ever been somewhere that was simply enjoyable? Good food, memorable attractions, a culture different from your own, and people who generally seemed happy to be living there?" That is Houston.

So now that you have your Covid-19 vaccine and are ready to travel, we are ready to welcome investors and tourists alike to Houston, and encourage you to consider Houston your next business or leisure destination.

His Excellency Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, President of the Republic of Panama, made a historic visit to Houston in July to discuss opportunities to increase economic and trade ties. Anchoring his visit was meeting with Port Houston, during which President Cortizo highlighted the importance of the connection between the Panama Canal and the Houston Ship Channel, noting that "Four out of every 10 ships arriving at Port Houston transit through the canal.”

Port Houston officials said the canal’s expansion was a game-changer for the port. In 2020, Houston was ranked the No. 1 port in the United States for total tonnage. Import containers from East Asia have grown 63%, and export containers have increased 96% since the Panama Canal’s expansion in 2016.

"The 2016 expansion of the Panama canal helped open new business opportunities and spurred the growth of Asia trade for Houston. The canal's expanded capacity to accommodate larger vessels has helped increase the number of larger ships arriving to the Houston Ship Channel. Receiving these larger vessels has fostered continued growth in both import and export cargo and had positive economic impact and job creation for the Houston region and for Texas as a whole."

Port Houston Press Release | Houston Chronicle Article | Bayou Business Download Podcast

On July 29, Mayor Sylvester Turner joined Mayor Wen-Je Ko of Taipei City to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Sister City relationship between Houston and Taipei. Taipei became Houston’s first sister city in 1961, and likewise Houston was also Taipei's first sister city. As Mayor Turner has said, "our friendship [with Taipei] has set a strong foundation to what it means to be a sister city with countries around the world." Houston has an active Taiwanese community, with approximately 20,000 people in Houston and 80,000 people in the Greater Houston area. Our economic relationship with Taiwan has thrived, from our direct flight to Taipei with EVA Air, to our active trade relationship valued at $5.2 billion in 2019. We are truly grateful for the support and contributions the Taiwanese community gave to Houston during COVID-19, including generous donations of PPE and masks to help those in need. Houston’s beloved Herman Park is also home to the Friendship Pavilion, which was a gift to the City of Houston from Taipei City, made for the United States Bicentennial in 1976.

The virtual program included presentations by both Houston and Taipei, with keynote remarks from mayors of both cities. The celebration was highlighted by the signing of an MOU commemorating the anniversary and a re-affirmation of the Sister City relationship. Houston is delighted to join hands with Taipei and cities around the world to share best practices and dialogue on how we can provide a better future for our citizens, including developing global education and learning, conducting cultural exchanges, building Smart Cities, leading the Energy Transition and tackling the challenge of Climate Action. We look forward to welcoming Taipei to Houston, and to our continued collaboration to uphold the sister city mission.

Thank you to Taipei City Government, Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in Houston (TECO), Houston First Corporation, Houston Taipei Society, and Sister Cities of Houston for their continued efforts and dedication in promoting the meaningful partnership between Houston and Taipei. We look forward to another 60 years of friendship and to creating a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive home for all our citizens! View the full recording here.

This summer’s Gold Cup, the 16th edition of the competition and a key part of CONCACAF’s 60th anniversary celebration, was played in 11 stadiums across eight US metropolitan areas, including numerous games in Houston, to include the semi-final between Mexico and Canada. MOTIA took part in the celebration as we welcomed officials from Qatar to Houston.

Why Qatar in the Gold Cup? The Asian and CONCACAF (central and north America) regions formed a working strategic partnership in 2018 to support the growth of soccer in both parts of the world. It was an agreement to help increase competitive opportunities, referee exchanges, and to share best practices around the hosting of the World Cup as Qatar hosts the next World Cup in 2022, followed by a joint hosts USA/Canada/Mexico in 2026. As part of this agreement, Qatar was invited to participate in the 2021 and 2023 Gold Cup tournaments.

For matches in Houston, Group D team Honduras, Panama, Grenada, and guest participant and AFC Asian Cup Champions Qatar played round-robin matches at BBVA Stadium. NRG Stadium hosted the semifinal match where Mexico scored in the 99th minute to win 2-1 over Canada in front of 70,304 fans. Soccer remains at the heart of the Houston sporting world, and we look forward to the World Cup in 2026.

MOTIA welcomed the Republic of Gabon’s Minister of Petroleum, Gas, and Mining H.E., Vincent de Paul Massassa to Houston to discuss Gabon Oil and Gas Investment Opportunities during a presentation at the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Center (EENRC) at the University of Houston Law Center. Supported by the UH Law and Energy centers, Minister Massassa highlighted key opportunities for investments in the 12th Oil Offshore Licensing Round that offers 35 oil blocks in the West African Nation.

In 2018, the Minister, working with international partners, determined that Gabon's previous petroleum code had not provided appropriate standards to attract new investments. The University of Houston supported Gabon with technical assistance in drafting the new enacted code which has allowed Gabon to restore market interest in their industry, and which has resulted in signing new 19 oil ventures.

While leading the energy transition, Houston remains home to the world's largest oil and gas companies that are seeking more sustainable ways to extract resources. Thank you to the University of Houston for the excellent event.

On July 15, Sister Cities International hosted their virtual Annual Conference 2021, highlighting the theme "Building Stronger Ties for an Interconnected World." Each year, the annual conference provides opportunity for members and sister cities around the world to network, share best practices, and increase the dialogues on promoting peace through citizen diplomacy, fostering the core mission of people to people exchanges in education, economy, cultures, and community engagement. MOTIA Director Christopher Olson had the pleasure to introduce and moderate the opening general session on education entitled "The Future is Now: Adapting Technology for Education and Youth Exchanges". The opening panel featured David Santulli, Founder of United Planet, Aiko Lozar, Student Ambassador from Carlsbad-Nanjing, and Jonathan Childress Community Engagement Director for Microsoft in a discussion on the expansion and impact of technology in global education. Key takeaways were focusing not only on content delivery but on student driven discussion and initiatives to ensure engagement in virtual learning, and on flexibility in both engagement and content delivery to ensure students can learn in different environments.

Houston Consular Ball 2021
The Houston Consular Ball is the Mayor’s Premier White-Tie Gala, honoring the 90-plus consulates and the international communities that are represented in Houston. This October 16, Consular Ball returns to highlight our city's rich and storied history spanning over six decades and showcasing all that Houston has to offer. This annual event is aligned with Houston International Initiatives (HII), with proceeds utilized by HII for the city’s international outreach and education. For more information about the event and how to participate as a sponsor or attendee, please contact MOTIA@houstontx.gov

Health Tech Beyond Borders- ProChile
Join MOTIA at Health Tech Beyond Borders on August 10-13th, an online summit that offers business opportunities and global collaboration focused on innovation and technology in medicine between companies in Chile and the United States, and explore the future and impact of new technologies in the healthcare sector. Read more here.

Offshore Technology Conference 2021
Houston will be hosting the Offshore Technology Conference August 16-19, the largest oil and gas sector trade show in the world. Let us know if you are hosting an OTC related event so it can be featured on the MOTIA calendar.