MOTIA End Of Year Message and Thank You

Dear Friends of the Mayor’s Office of Trade and International Affairs (MOTIA),
As we bring 2023 to a close and prepare to welcome a new Mayor to City Hall, it is an opportunity to reflect on both what we have accomplished in 2023 and all we have done to make Houston a better city over the past eight years of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s term of office.

Houston’s diplomatic relationships have brought heads of nations, states and governments, business leaders and community members to Houston to showcase our great city as an ideal place to work, live, and grow. Our relationships in arts, culture, and the humanities are reflected throughout our diverse population and the spectacular performances that have taken place around the world. Our business engagement has taken us on trade missions around the globe and brought new economic opportunities for everyone. In 2023 alone, we traveled to nine foreign markets, and welcomed nearly 150 foreign delegations of all sizes to Houston.

The 2023 highlights are many; from hosting the largest community IFTAR dinner in U.S. during Ramadan; to taking a 35 member delegation on a three country trade and investment mission to Africa; leading the Global Resilient Cities Network and the World Energy Cities Partnership; hosting the largest and grandest Consular Ball in Houston’s history; and our own Niké Luqman was awarded the "Royal Medal of Isabella the Catholic" by the King of Spain, a highly selective a rare honor for her lifetime building international relationships. It has been a truly exceptional year.

None of this would be possible without the amazing team in the Mayor’s Office of Trade and International Affairs (MOTIA): Mazda Denon, Niké Luqman, Jessica Ngo, and José Carrillo, and the guidance and leadership from Andy Icken. A truly global team leading a global city.

The end of 2023 also marks the end of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s time as Mayor of Houston. Mayor Turner embraced Houston’s position as a great global city. Mayor Turner challenged MOTIA to "elevate Houston" on the international stage, and we delivered. While the events and achievements were many, a few items stand out:

Houston’s Rise as a Great Global City: Our global engagement was recognized. In 2020, Houston ranked Nr. 3 in the world as a "City of the Future" by the Financial Times FTI; Houston overtook Maimi in 2023 as the Number 1 city in the U.S. for foreign direct investment (FDI); Houston has the third most foreign Consulates in the U.S.; the Port of Houston is the Number 1 port in the world for both foreign tonnage and value of goods; and Houston was ranked one of the top 10 best cites in America (2023) and one of the 50 best cities in the world (2022).

The Africa Energy Summit 2022: An audacious idea turned into one of the most incredible events in Houston’s diplomatic history; bringing 20 African Energy Ministers and Presidential Advisors together with Houston’s corporate energy CEOs and over 600 participants to discuss how Houston can help power Africa’s future. This was a highlight event of our commitment to growing the relationship between Houston and the African continent. It started with Africa Day, building several Africa business symposiums and the Energy Summit, facilitated Houston attending President Biden’s Africa Leaders’ Summit in 2022, and culminated in our 2023 trade mission to Africa. No city except Houston could do something like this.

Expanded Community Engagement: We increased civic and cultural engagement through a wide range of Houston based arts organizations; chambers of commerce including the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, the Philippine Chamber, the Brazil-Texas Chamber, the Texas-Africa Chamber, and many more; through increased collaboration with the major universities in Houston including University of Houston, Rice University, and Texas Southern University; and through the Sister Cities Program. This engagement brought new global opportunities to Houstonians in the arts, culture, education, and business sectors.

Taking Houston to the World: We cannot just ask the world to come to Houston, we need to be present and committed to taking Houston to the world as well. Mayor Turner led trade and investment missions to 19 foreign countries, finding new economic, cultural, and political opportunities for Houstonians in each. Our travel included visits to the countries of: South Africa, Cuba, Germany, UK, Israel, Türkiye, Bahrain, China, Peru, Argentina, Chile, India, Mexico (four times), Japan, Canada, Brazil, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and Ghana. These missions were organized by MOTIA, together with our partners in the Greater Houston Partnership, Houston First, and the many international chambers for each country.

Houston Consular Ball: We continued to elevate the Houston Consular Ball, and the engagement with our Consular Corps, which was reflected in growing the Ball to over 600 attendees supporting our more than 90 diplomatic missions in Houston. The Ball is a glowing example of Houston’s global engagement, bringing together Houston’s international business community with our foreign government partners to honor our Consular Corps and find new opportunities for Houstonians. Houston is a global leader in City Diplomacy, and our consulates are an anchor in our bilateral relations with the world.

Transitioning the Energy Capital of the World: The energy sector remains critical to Houston’s economy, and the city has embraced becoming the global Energy Transition Capital of the World. Mayor Turner personally traveled to Bahrain to advocate for the City Houston and brought the World Petroleum Congress (WPC) back to the U.S., and back to the energy capital of the world, for the first time in 33 years. Widely regarded as the industry’s most prestigious and high-profile global energy event, the WPC welcomed attendees from more than 70 countries to Houston to discuss the full range of energy options to lead the transition. This was one of many leading energy conferences we expanded our engagement with, including CERAWeek, OTC, NAPE, and GASTECH, each of which showcase Houston as the energy transition capital of the world and brings tens of thousands of visitors to our city.

Sister Cities of Houston: Our sister cities are a vital part of our international vision of citizen-diplomacy. We welcomed our newest Sister City of Ulsan, South Korea, after nearly a decade of building meaningful relations. Our approach is slow, deliberate, and we celebrate our 19 meaningful and impactful sister city relationships. This could not be done without an outstanding, all volunteer board of directors and sister city association leaders that make up Sister Cities of Houston.

International Organization Leadership: The influence of Houston was showcased in Houston’s and Mayor Turner’s leadership in global organizations. As the Chairman of the global Resilient Cities Network, as a founding member of the Urban20, as the permanent secretariat of the World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP), and engagement with the C40, World Economic Forum, United Nations World Bank and IMF, and many others Houston provided leadership on critical international issues including urban development, resiliency, climate action, and the energy transition.

None of this would have been possible without Mayor Turner’s vision in shaping Houston’s leadership on the global stage. He embraced Houston’s global diversity as its strength, growing an inclusive city where 1 in 4 residents are foreign born, where more than 145 languages are spoken, and where in Mayor Turner’s words, "if you can dream it, you can do it."

My final acknowledgement and thank you goes to our international community in Houston, and all our partners, friends, chambers, consulates, and citizens that make our global engagement possible.

Christopher Olson

With Our Warmest Regards,

Christopher Olson, Mazda Denon, Niké Luqman, Jessica Ngo, José Carrillo