Newsletter: Houston MOTIA October 2021 Highlights

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

Houston, the fourth-largest city in the USA and the largest in Texas, has a lot to offer especially when it comes to the global sports industry. This past month, Houston hosted the Major League Baseball World Series and the FIFA World Cup 2026 site inspection delegation on the same day, and in less than a month will be hosting the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals. Our city has hosted more major sporting events than any other U.S. city since 2004, be it the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, All Star Games, Soccer's Gold Cup and the Copa America Centenario games.

This month, our City hosted the Houston Consular Corps at the 69th Consular Ball, where we celebrated our role as a global leader in climate action, our efforts to build a more resilient City, and Houston’s commitment to a green and just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Consular Ball is not only an occasion to recognize Houston’s leadership as a great global city and honor its Consular Corps—the third largest consular corps in the nation—but is also an unparalleled opportunity for businesses to strengthen and create new ties with the key industry, community, and government leaders that make up Houston’s thriving international scene. Next year marks the 70th anniversary of the Houston Consular Ball, and we cordially invite you to take part in next year’s celebration as we honor the diverse diplomatic corps and Houston's role as a great global city.

Mayor Turner delivered his sixth annual State of the City address in front of a crowd of nearly 1,500 Houstonians. This year’s event was a true representation of what resiliency can be when the city unites for a great cause.

In addition to sharing updates on the City’s programs and services, Mayor Turner discussed his priorities to keep Houston on the leading edge of technology, innovation, and health. Our mayor highlighted the impact of the global pandemic and the City’s bold and effective response that is being emulated around the country, important infrastructure improvements, and the public-private partnerships that enhance the quality of life for every resident in Houston.

Recently, Houston was named a Top 5 Convention City in the US, citing the City’s affordability, accessibility, and safety. The city was placed on Time Magazine’s list of World’s Greatest Places 2021. MarketWatch recently declared the Houston area is winning the competition to establish tech hubs in Texas.

Mayor Sylvester Turner welcomed H.E. Mark Freer, Under Secretary of State (Minister for Exports) and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) for the United Kingdom on his first working trip abroad. Houston welcomed separately Sarah Montgomery, Economic and Trade Counselor from the British Embassy Washington to further increase trade ties between the Houston region and the U.K., as well as promote the COP26 conference, which falls under the Minister's office. The Minister is leading several initiatives around clean energy facilities and ways to accelerate export trade agreements. The UK is also negotiating a U.S./U.K. free trade agreement, which will help both U.K. and Houston companies develop deeper trade ties. Trade between Houston and the United Kingdom was valued at $7.6 billion in ’20, and the U.K. is Houston's 9th top trade partner. Ninety Houston firms operate 311 subsidiary offices in the U.K., and 176 U.K. firms operate 365 subsidiary offices in Houston.

MOTIA welcomed The Honorable Ruth Emmerink, Consul General for the Netherlands, Bart van Bolhuis, Head Economic Affairs at the Embassy of the Netherlands, Saskia Paardans, Sr. Advisor on Infrastructure and Water Management at Embassy of the Netherlands in Washington D.C. and Bee Kothuis, Chief Representative, Netherlands Business Support Office Houston. The discussions focused on cooperation in the region on topics such as energy transition, water management, ports, and sports (and Houston's and the Netherland's favorite color: orange). The Netherlands is Houston's 10th top trading partner, and 40 Dutch firms operate 96 subsidiary offices in Houston, including Royal Dutch Shell, Wolters Kluwer, LyondellBasell, and CEVA Logistics.

The MOTIA team was out in the community this month attending the Asian Chamber of Commerce, Filipino Chamber of Commerce, Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston galas to celebrate excellence in leadership, business, and community impact within the greater Houston area. Director, Christopher Olson, joined the celebration of Mahatma Gandhi's Sesquicentennial and Walk for Peace and Niké Luqman, Senior Consular & International Affairs Manager presented a proclamation on behalf of the mayor and the city at the Colombian Immigrant Day celebration with the Consulate of Colombia in Houston. MOTIA also joined the Canadian Consul General in honoring two Canadian Houston Dash players who won the Olympic Gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Returning to the United States for the first time in over 30 years, the 23rd World Petroleum Congress will showcase Houston as the Energy Capital of World from December 5-9, 2021. Houston is home to 4,600 energy firms and a hub of technological innovation and entrepreneurship both within the energy sector and across aligned sectors. The Congress will gather industry and government leaders from around the world to address all aspects of the industry from technological advances in upstream, midstream, and downstream operations to the role of natural gas and renewables, and will highlight the management of the industry and its social, economic, and environmental impact.