Skip to main content

Partnership Highlights Investment and Trade Potential During D.C. Trip

Published Feb 17, 2023 by Gabby Aslaksen

IIT DC Trip 4

Partnership representatives meet with Ellington Arnold, Scott Eisner, Neil Herrington, Evan Jenkins and John Murphy from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

IIT DC Trip 3

With World Bank's Lisa Castro, Bank Group's Danica Starks, and DOC Multilateral Development Bank Group's Adraina Kugler

IIT DC Trip 5

IIT team at the US Department of Commerce

IIT DC Trip 2

Meeting at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency headquarters

IIT DC Trip 1

President and Chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States Reta Jo Lewis shows off desk of Houstonian entrepreneur and statesman Jesse Jones

The Greater Houston Partnership’s International Investment and Trade team traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to meet with various government and government-related agencies as part of continued efforts to align our activities in Houston with those at the national level. The Partnership team also provided the Houston business community’s perspective on key trade issues.

The visit began with a meeting with President and Chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States Reta Jo Lewis and her team for a dialogue on the funding opportunities for Houston companies that are interested in exporting abroad. Texas is the largest export state in the country and Houston is well known as a center for global commerce; both are major markets for Ex-Im Bank. 

Through its new Make More in America Initiative, the Bank is also providing competitive tools to companies seeking to invest in and create jobs in the U.S market. The Partnership has been a proud and well-established supporter of Ex-Im Bank and looks forward to building on our work and welcoming Chair Lewis to Houston in the future. 

The delegation met with members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for an in-depth briefing on recent international trade developments and regional activities in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The Chamber and the Partnership are long-standing partners committed to continuing our collaboration on key international topics, especially as they relate to trade and foreign investment. 

Later this month, the Partnership and the U.S. Chamber will co-host the Advance with Africa initiative, which will bring together small and medium-sized businesses and the African business community in Houston for a robust discussion on the economic opportunities available in this dynamic region. 

As the World Bank Private Sector Liaison Office, the delegation also had an opportunity to meet with Lisa Castro, World Bank PSLO Coordinator, and Danica Starks, Advisor to the U.S. Executive Director and Head of the DOC Multilateral Development Bank Group, to discuss engagement opportunities for Houston companies and World Bank tender and procurement projects abroad. The World Bank, along with other federal agencies, offers public funding opportunities, advocacy, counseling, and other critical services to companies interested in taking advantage of those projects. The group also had a chance to meet Adriana Kugler, Executive Director for the United States at the World Bank Group, and former University of Houston professor. 

The delegation ended the day with a visit to the U.S Trade and Development Agency’s headquarters to re-engage with the agency on work focused on the energy transition, infrastructure development, healthcare, and other critical technologies. The USTDA offers project support through feasibility study funding and other important services that are essential to companies looking for investment opportunities around the world. The Partnership has been a Making Global Local partner since 2012 and was the first EDO to join the initiative. Over the years, the Partnership has worked with USTDA on reverse trade missions, export workshops, and promoting trade opportunities for Houston companies. We look forward to continuing this work in 2023 and beyond.

The delegation met with International Trade Administration’s Advocacy Center representatives on Wednesday, where we discussed how the Center primarily promotes exports to maintain and generate U.S. jobs. The Center helps to provide Houston companies with the resources necessary to enter new foreign markets. The organization develops support by coordinating U.S. government agencies’ strategic efforts to ensure U.S. companies win bids on foreign tenders against competing international firms. 

The Partnership team also had the opportunity to meet with Arun Venkataraman, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets, and Jasjit Singh, Executive Director of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s SelectUSA program, who lead the government's twofold mission to help small- and mid-size enterprises by attracting foreign business to the United States and demystifying exporting abroad. 

The delegation will attend this year's SelectUSA Investment Summit to join the government's efforts to boost the economy, generate employment opportunities, and increase American competitiveness. Notably, the Partnership team will make the case to international corporations that Houston remains the best place to conduct business. 

These meetings pave the way for future progress in attracting foreign direct investment in Houston, as well as enabling local businesses to prosper through efforts abroad. The Partnership looks forward to more opportunities to build Houston’s status as a global trade hub.

Learn more about international business in Houston

Josefina Echeverria also contributed to this report. 

Related News

Economic Development

Texas and Houston Maintain Their Leadership in Fortune 500 Headquarters

6/5/23
Texas has once again solidified its position as the leading state with the most Fortune 500 headquarters, while Houston continues to spearhead the largest concentration of these corporate powerhouses in the state.  With an impressive tally of 55 prominent companies choosing Texas as their home base, it is evident that the state's business–friendly environment and thriving workforce have been instrumental in attracting and nurturing influential entities.   In addition, the greater Houston metro area stands as the second–largest hub of Fortune 500 headquarters in the nation, boasting a remarkable total of 25 corporate giants. Following closely behind Houston, the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metro area secures the third position with 24 Fortune 500 headquarters.  "Texas is the headquarters of headquarters," said Governor Greg Abbott. “With our strong and growing workforce and welcoming business climate, Texas is where businesses find the freedom to flourish and people find opportunities to prosper." The annual Fortune 500 list serves as a crucial benchmark for corporate success and economic influence, ranking the largest U.S. corporations based on their fiscal year revenue. Achieving the top spot on this prestigious list reaffirms Texas' and Houston's pivotal roles as key players in both the national and global economies.   Here is a list of Fortune 500 firms based in the Houston area, along with their respective rankings:  3 – ExxonMobil – Not on Fortune 500's 2023 list, but HQ relocation to Spring, TX is expected to be completed in 2023.*  17 – Phillips 66  49 – ConocoPhillips   56 – Sysco  72 – Enterprise Products Partners   74 – Plains GP Holdings  110 – Occidental Petroleum   122 – Cheniere Energy   130 – NRG Energy   143 – Hewlett Packard Enterprise  156 – EOG Resources   185 – Baker Hughes   188 – Targa Resources   197 – Halliburton  204 – Waste Management   214 – Kinder Morgan  244 – Quanta Services   252 – Group 1 Automotive  263 – Westlake   275 – Southwestern Energy  341 – APA  413 – CenterPoint Energy  431 – Coterra Energy  433 – Huntsman 464 – Marathon Oil 492 – Par Pacific Holdings See the full 2023 Fortune 500 list.
Read More
Economic Development

Study: Houston Ship Channel Contributed More Than $900 Billion to U.S. Economy

6/5/23
The Houston Ship Channel, an economic driver and a critical link to transporting goods and commerce with more than 200 countries around the world, generated $906 billion of economic value to the U.S. in 2022, reflecting a 13 percent increase since 2018, according to Port Houston’s latest economic impact study. The Houston Ship Channel complex encompasses more than 200 public and private facilities while Port Houston owns and operates the eight public facilities along the 52-mile Houston Ship Channel. According to the study conducted by Martin Associates, the Houston Ship Channel generated $439.2 billion in total economic value for the state, representing 18.6 percent of the state’s GDP and a $100 billion increase in economic value since 2018. An additional $10.6 billion in state and local tax revenue was generated by activity at its marine terminals.  In terms of employment, the Houston Ship Channel supported 3.4 million jobs in the U.S., including 1.5 million jobs in Texas – a 14 percent increase since 2018. Port Houston’s two public terminals resulted in nearly 190,000 new Texas jobs.  The positive results of the study, which is conducted every four years, will help support continued investment in Port Houston’s future, including plans for facilities and infrastructure. This comes in the wake of the completion of the first section of the Houston Ship Channel expansion project, known as Project 11. This first section, referred to as Segment 1A, encompasses eleven and a half miles extending from Bolivar Roads to Redfish and will help increase safety, reduce congestion, and improve vessel transit times by an hour. Project 11 is expected to be completed in 2025 and will move Port Houston closer to its goal of handling unrestricted two-way traffic of larger vessels.  Port Houston ranks No. 5 in the nation in terms of TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) handled in 2022. With this jump from No. 7, Houston now owns a 7 percent market share of the total U.S. container business.  According to the Partnership’s Global Houston report, Houston’s role as a major U.S. container port has continued to grow over the years as cargo activity shifts from the ports on the West Coast due to congestion.  Learn more about Houston’s transportation and logistics infrastructure. 
Read More

Related Events

Demography

Houston DiverseCity Summit

The Greater Houston Partnership invites you to join us as a sponsor for the Houston DiverseCity Summit on Wednesday, October 4. The Summit is more than an event. It is an inspiring one-day convening to…

Learn More
Learn More
Executive Partners