* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. AS [00:00:01] AN INTERNATIONAL CITY, HOUSTON IS A TOP DESTINATION FOR [Houston Week: Mexico Mission 2023] BUSINESS AND LEISURE TRAVELERS AROUND THE WORLD. OUR CITY ALSO FOCUSES ON TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. THAT IS WHY EACH YEAR, MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER HAS PARTNERED WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ON FOREIGN MISSIONS TO PROMOTE BUSINESS TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM. TODAY WE LOOK BACK AT ONE TRIP TO MEXICO, ALONG WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM HOUSTON, FIRST AND OTHER MAJOR PARTNERS, MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER IN COLLABORATION WITH KEY PARTNERS THROUGHOUT HOUSTON IS LEADING AN IMPORTANT TOURISM AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MISSION FOCUSED ON MEXICO. THE HOUSTON WEEK MISSION IS DESIGNED TO STRENGTHEN HOUSTON'S POSITION WITH OUR NEIGHBORS TO THE SOUTH IN GLOBAL TRADE TOURISM, BUSINESS AND LEISURE TRAVEL. WHEN IT COMES TO TRADE, UM, MEXICO IS HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO THE CITY. UH, IT IS HOUSTON'S, UH, NUMBER ONE, UH, INTERNATIONAL TRADING PARTNER WITH THE CITY OF HOUSTON, AND THAT'S NOT BY ACCIDENT. UM, WE WORK AT IT. THERE ARE MUTUAL BENEFITS BETWEEN THE TWO, UM, AND THAT'S IMPORTANT WHEN IT COMES TO TOURISM. WE CERTAINLY WANT TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE FROM HOUSTON TO COME TO MONTEREY. QUITE FRANKLY, THE FLIGHT THAT WE TOOK THIS MORNING WAS ONLY AN HOUR AND ABOUT 15 MINUTES. UH, SO IT, IT IS JUST DOESN'T TAKE A, A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. AND THEN AT THE SAME TIME, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT COME FROM MONTEREY TO THE CITY OF HOUSTON. THIS IS THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR, THE LARGEST TOURISM AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MISSION. AS FOCUSED ON MEXICO WITH STOPS AND MONTEREY AND MEXICO CITY. I'M GLAD THAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CONTINUE WORKING TOGETHER TOWARDS TRANSFORMING OUR CITIES AND EXCHANGING IDEAS. I PARTICULARLY ADMIRE AND RESPECT MAYOR TURNER'S ABILITY TO OVERCOME NATURAL DISASTERS, TO FIND SOLUTIONS IN TODAY'S DAUNTING CRISIS, AND TO PUSH FOR MUCH NEEDED PARADIGM SHIFTS THAT BRING ABOUT POSSIBLE CHANGE CRISIS ARE ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PROFOUND CHANGE. AND EVEN IF, IF FINDING SOLUTIONS ALWAYS GENERATE NEW PROBLEMS, OPTUM TO BENEFIT FAR OUTWEIGHS THE COST. EVEN IF SOLUTIONS COME WITH THEIR OWN PROBLEMS THAT WILL NEED SOLVING AS LONG AS PEOPLE'S LIVES SUPPORT ARE BETTER, BE THE DELEGATION INCLUDES HOUSTON FIRST CORPORATION, GREATER HOUSTON PARTNERSHIP, TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER, UNITED AIRLINES, HOUSTON AIRPORTS, THE HOUSTON ROCKETS AND HOTEL REPRESENTATIVES. MONTEREY AND HOUSTON SHARE MANY CONNECTIONS. UH, WE SHARE A REGION. WE SHARE CULTURES. WE SHARE FAMILIES THAT ARE IN EACH CITY. JUST IN THE MEETING THAT WE JUST HAD, WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, OUR VERTICAL MARKETS AND INDUSTRY THAT WE SHARE, ASPIRATIONS THAT WE SHARE, UH, BEING ABLE TO LEARN FROM ONE ANOTHER AND HOW WE CAN NOT ONLY BUILD BETTER FRIENDSHIP, BUT BUILD BETTER BUSINESS FOR EACH ONE OF OUR CITIES, AS UNDER THESE MAYORS THAT WE TRY TO MAKE EACH CITY AS GREAT AS IT CAN BE AS TWO DYNAMIC CITIES THAT HOUSTON AND MONTEREY ARE. MAYOR TURNER AND I, UH, MET FOR THE FIRST TIME LAST YEAR, AND HE'S A VERY VIBRANT AND VERY ACTIVE, UH, AND VERY, VERY PASSIONATE MAYOR THAT WANTS TO BRING DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION TO HIS CITY. AND IN THAT WAY, WE SHARE MANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN MONTEREY AND HOUSTON BECAUSE WE ARE BOTH THE EVOLVING ECONOMIES TOWARDS, UH, WORKING TOWARDS A PARADIGM SHIFT IN INNOVATION IN TECHNOLOGY, IN AEROSPACE AND, UH, AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRIES TO SHIFT THE INDUSTRIAL OR JUST THE MERELY INDUSTRIAL VACATION OF OUR ECONOMIC INTO, UH, MORE SERVICE AND COMMERCE ORIENTED ECONOMIES. ALSO WILL SHARING A LOT OF OUR TOURISM, SHARING A LOT OF OUR CULTURE AND OUR ASTRONOM UH, POTENTIAL. I THINK BOTH OF OUR STUDIES CAN REALLY BENEFIT FROM THESE VERY, VERY PRODUCTIVE MEETINGS THAT HELP US FURTHER ESTABLISH GREAT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BOTH OF OUR COUNTRIES, BUT ALSO SERVE AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN BOTH OF OUR CITIES AND OUR CITY RESIDENTS IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT NEW INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR BOTH OUR CITY'S BENEFITS. DURING THE DAY, THE FOCUS IS ON BUSINESS MEETINGS AND MEDIA ROUND TABLES, MAKING A PERSONAL CONNECTION WITH THE REGION'S MAYORS, GOVERNORS. UH, WE JUST TALKED WITH THE GOVERNOR ABOUT THE EVENTS, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT'S HAPPENING IN UKRAINE. UH, EVEN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN, LET'S SAY CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES. UH, ALL OF THOSE ELEMENTS SPEAK TO THE IMPORTANCE OF US DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO STRENGTHEN THE RELATIONSHIPS, UH, BETWEEN MEXICO AND HOUSTON AND THE SECRETARY OF TOURISM. BUT WE NEED TO KEEP WORKING TOGETHER TO PROMOTE TOURISM GENERATING INCOME, JOBS AND INVESTMENTS. [00:05:01] BUT, UH, MOST OF ALL, I INVITE YOU TO KEEP COMING AND EXPLORING OUR COUNTRY. YOU ALWAYS BE WELCOME IN HOUSE NEW MEXICO. WE'LL HELP BUILD ROBUST TRAVEL AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES. THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES TO BE HAD ON BOTH SIDES OF MEXICO TO THE CITY OF HOUSTON, AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT THERE ARE COMPANIES THAT ARE ALREADY DOING BUSINESS, UH, IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON WITH THE CMAX, OR WHETHER IT'S OR, AND AT THE SAME TIME, THERE ARE COMPANIES IN HOUSTON THAT ARE DOING BUSINESS RIGHT HERE, UH, IN THIS, IN THIS AREA, IN THIS REGION. WE BELIEVE THAT WITH ALL OF THE DYNAMICS THAT ARE TAKING PLACE, THE OPPORTUNITIES EXIST FOR IT TO GROW EVEN STRONGER, UH, AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT CAN BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BY BOTH SIDES. THAT'S WHY WE ARE HERE. UH, THAT'S WHY, UH, I AM HERE AS MAYOR CITY OF HOUSTON, ALONG WITH A STRONG DELEGATION. UH, AND WE BELIEVE THAT THE GATEWAY TO BOTH COMES OUT OF THIS AREA AND COMES THROUGH THE CITY OF HOUSTON. PRELIMINARY TOURISM DATA SHOWS THAT NEARLY 1.3 MILLION VISITORS FROM MEXICO TRAVELED TO HOUSTON IN 2022. A NUMBER THAT REPRESENTS MORE THAN 65% OF ALL INTERNATIONAL VISITORS TO OUR CITY. THESE SAME TRAVELERS ALSO CONTRIBUTED AN ESTIMATED $432 MILLION TO THE LOCAL HOUSTON ECONOMY LAST YEAR. AND THE MONTEREY AREA WHERE WE ARE TODAY, UH, REPRESENTS THE LARGEST SEGMENT, UH, OF, OF THOSE TRAVELERS FROM MEXICO THAT END UP IN HOUSTON. AND THERE'S A LOT OF SIMILARITIES FROM INDUSTRY, UH, A LOT OF GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN THE TWO REGIONS. SO BEING HERE, HAVING THE MEETINGS, UM, HAVING THE DISCUSSIONS, EXPLORING THINGS MAYBE THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT ONE ANOTHER AND WHERE THERE'S SIMILARITIES IN PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES IS WHY THIS MISSION IS SO CRITICAL, UH, FOR US TO DO EACH YEAR. ACCORDING TO THE GREATER HOUSTON PARTNERSHIP, MEXICO PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN HOUSTON'S ECONOMY. LAST YEAR, MORE THAN $32.1 BILLION IN GOODS AND SERVICES WERE EXCHANGED BETWEEN HOUSTON AND MEXICO. NEARLY 600,000 HOUSTONIANS WERE BORN IN MEXICO, AND THE REGION HAS MORE DIRECT FLIGHTS TO MEXICO THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY. AND WE HAVEN'T BEEN FLYING HERE IN BETWEEN MONTEREY AND HOUSTON FOR 57 YEARS IN A ROW. WE HAVE NEVER STOPPED FLYING THE ROUTE SINCE WE STARTED, AND WE SUPPORT A LOT, UH, ALL THE TRAVELERS THAT FLIES FOR MANY REASONS, FOR LEISURE, FOR HEALTH, UH, TO ATTEND SPORTS SHOPPING, VISIT A FRIEND AND FAMILIES, ET CETERA. SO WE, WE ARE RESPONSIVE OF THIS MISSION AND WE ARE HAPPY TO CONTRIBUTE TO CONNECT THE BO BOTH THINGS. THE PARTNERSHIP WAS INCORPORATED IN 1840 AS A CHAMBER AND YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS WE WANTED TO DO WAS DO TRADE MISSIONS ABROAD AND MEXICO OBVIOUSLY WAS THE FIRST TRADING PARTNER THAT WE LOOKED TO. UM, SO WE'VE BEEN, WE'VE BEEN TRADING WITH MEXICO SINCE, SINCE THE PARTNERSHIP FABRIC CAME IN HERE. UM, AND MONTEREY IS OBVIOUSLY THE CLOSEST LARGEST METRO METRO TO HOUSTON, UM, IN MEXICO. SO WE DO HAVE THAT, THAT GREAT CONNECTIVITY, UH, BOTH BY HIGHWAY, LIKE THE MAYOR SAID, LIKE, WE'RE HERE WITH THE UNITED, IT'S AN HOUR AND A HALF, HOUR AND 15 MINUTE FLIGHT. SO IT'S A VERY, VERY SHORT FLIGHT, UH, FROM HOUSTON TO MONTEREY. SO THAT CONNECTIVITY'S BEEN THERE. ALSO, LIKE, LIKE UNITED HERE WAS MENTIONING FOR YEARS, DECADES. UM, SO, UM, IT WE'RE NO STRANGERS TO TRADING AND, AND DOING BUSINESS WITH MONTEREY. WE JUST WANT TO KEEP EXPANDING ON THAT SUPER STRONG, UH, RELATIONSHIP THAT WE HAVE. FROM DAYTIME BUSINESS TO NIGHTTIME FESTIVITIES AT NIGHT, THE FOCUS TURNS TO SHOWCASING HOUSTON'S CULINARY TONIGHT AND CULTURE THROUGH THE AMAZING TALENTS OF AWARD-WINNING CHEFS, ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS. THE SIGNATURE EXPERIENCE OF HOUSTON WEEK IN MEXICO IS THE OLA HOUSTON EVENTS EVENING CELEBRATIONS DESIGNED TO INTRODUCE AND EXCITE INVITED GUESTS ABOUT ALL THINGS HOUSTON. AND WE GOT TWO DISHES THAT WE WANTED TO TAKE PERSPECTIVE FROM HOUSTON AND BOTH MEXICO. UH, AND THE FIRST DISH, THIS KIND OF GOES WITH OUR, UH, SEAFOOD CONCEPT IN HOUSTON. WHAT WE DID WAS WE TOOK A ACHI, JAPANESE ACHI TURN THAT TO CEVICHE THERE, PUT IT ON TOP OF CRISPY TORTILLA. THE SECOND DISH IS GOING TO BE OUR BARBECUE, SO THIS IS GONNA TAKE OUR BEEF SHORT RIB. WE TOOK THAT, WE TOPPED IT OVER SOME POLENTA, LITTLE SALSA VERDE. OBVIOUSLY I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN HOUSTON, SO I LOVE TO WRAP MY CITY, BUT IT'S REALLY COOL TO JUST HAVE SUCH AN IMMERSIVE EVENT OUTSIDE OF OUR CITY BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE IN HOUSTON YOU GET TO EXPERIENCE THIS A LOT. SO IT'S REALLY COOL TO BRING IT OUTSIDE OF THE CITY AND REALLY SHOWCASE WHAT HOUSTON'S [00:10:01] REALLY ABOUT. BEFORE LEAVING MEXICO, THERE'S ANOTHER BIG WIN FOR THE DELEGATION LED BY MAYOR TURNER. AN AGREEMENT TO SIGN BY TECH DEMORE AND SPACE CENTER HOUSTON TO ESTABLISH LEARNING AND RESEARCH PROJECTS WITH STUDENTS AND PROFESSORS. THE PARTNERSHIP IS DESIGNED TO INSPIRE AND PREPARE FUTURE LEADERS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS. LUCKY GO DE MONTEREY ALREADY HAS AN INNOVATION INSTITUTE AND MANY OF THE COMPANIES THAT HAVE, UH, COME OUT OF THIS INCUBATOR ALREADY ARE WORKING WITH AEROSPACE COMPANIES BASED IN HOUSTON. SO THIS IS GONNA BECOME ANOTHER WAY FOR US TO HELP ELEVATE AND ADVANCE THAT COLLABORATION. WE'RE RETURNING TO THE MOON THROUGH THE ARTEMIS PROGRAM, AND IT'S HAPPENING THROUGH ACCORD, THE 24 NATIONS, AND THAT LIST IS GROWING. SO INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION IS KEY TO THAT SUCCESS. WE'RE REALLY THE WAY WE CAN BRING PEOPLE INTO THE FIELD OF SPACE EXPLORATION AND STEM LEARNING, WHICH IS THE FOUNDATION FOR LEARNING IN ALL TOPICS. AND IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION MOSTLY BENEFITS US HERE ON EARTH. WE ARE LEARNING SO MUCH THAT IMPROVES THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES. YOU HAVE YOUR SMARTPHONE, YOU HAVE GPS THAT HELPS YOU GET AROUND. WE'RE ADVANCING ALL KINDS OF RESEARCH ON HEALTH AROUND CANCER AND OTHER DISEASES, AND WE'RE UNDERSTANDING THEM BETTER BY STUDYING THEM IN A MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT. AND THEN APPLYING THAT KNOWLEDGE TO INNOVATIONS HERE ON EARTH AS HOME TO THE WORLD'S LARGEST MEDICAL COMPLEX ANNUALLY, ATTRACTING MORE THAN 24,000 INTERNATIONAL TRAVELERS SEEKING MEDICAL CARE. THE TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER OR TMC PROVIDES CLINICAL HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION AT ITS 61 INSTITUTIONS WHERE WE'VE WORKED WITH THE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS THAT EXIST IN YOUR COUNTRY. AND WE BRING AND SPONSOR THOSE COMPANIES TO COME IN THAT ARE READY TO MAKE A MOVE INTO THE US MARKETPLACE. SO IT'S A REAL CLOSE RELATIONSHIP. WE WORK WITH THE, THE ACADEMIC CENTERS AND THE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS, AND ALSO WITH INDUSTRY, UH, WITH PHARMA AND A LOT OF THE, UH, THE, UH, ONSHORING OR NEARSHORING OF CAPABILITIES HERE. MEXICO'S GONNA BE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO US WHEN WE LOOK AT BRINGING BACK A LOT OF OUR MEDICAL DEVICE, A LOT OF OUR PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING HERE FROM OVERSEAS, FROM BUSINESS TO CULTURE, FOOD AND ENTERTAINMENT. HOUSTON HAS LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARKET IN MEXICO FOR THE SECOND YEAR. THE INVESTMENT IS GROWING RELATIONSHIPS AND PROMOTING TRAVEL. MEXICO AND SP SPECIFICALLY MONTEREY, IT'S A HUGE MARKET FOR US IN HOUSTON. UM, MOST OF THE TRAVELERS THAT COME TO OUR CITY, UH, ARE HERE BECAUSE OF, IT COULD BE MEDICAL REASONS, IT COULD BE SHOPPING, IT COULD BE BUSINESS, OBVIOUSLY CONVENTIONS. SO AS MARRIOTT, AS A COMPANY, UH, WE'RE A GLOBAL COMPANY AND WE BRING, UM, ALL THAT TO THE VISITORS THAT COME. SO WE ARE HERE AS PART OF A DELEGATION, UH, BRINGING, UM, A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING, UM, SPEAKING WITH ALL THE TOUR OPERATORS, WITH THE TRAVEL AGENTS, AND JUST REMINDING EVERYBODY OF EVERYTHING THAT WE HAVE TO OFFER IN HOUSTON SO THAT THEY CAN COME, THEY CAN VISIT US, AND THAT WE CAN REACTIVATE EVERYTHING THAT FOR YEARS, UM, THE TRAVELERS HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR. AND PERHAPS BECAUSE OF COVID, UH, WE LOST A LITTLE BIT OF THAT, BUT NOW WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PRESENT. OVERALL. HOUSTON WEEK LED BY MAYOR TURNER HELPS TO SOLIDIFY HOUSTON'S POSITION AS A GLOBAL LEADER AND TOP TOURIST DESTINATION BETWEEN MEXICO. I THINK THE LEARNING ON THIS AND ANY OTHER TRADE MISSION THE CITY IS ON, IS A DIALOGUE TO LEARN FROM OTHERS. UH, WE DON'T HAVE ALL THE GOOD IDEAS IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON, NOR DO PLACES WE GO HAVE ALL THE GOOD IDEAS, BUT LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER HAS ALWAYS PROVEN TO BE A VALUABLE EXERCISE FOR US IN THE CITY. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHICH CITY YOU ARE THE MAYOR OF, IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW LARGE OR HOW SMALL MAYORS DO THE SAME THING. WE ARE IN THE PEOPLE'S BUSINESS, AND WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO THE PEOPLE IN OUR CITIES IS IMPORTANT TO US AS MAYORS, THEIR NEEDS BECOME OUR NEEDS, THEIR HOPES AND DESIRES BECOME OUR HOPES AND DESIRES, AND WE CAN LEARN FROM ONE ANOTHER. AND SO FAMILY IS IMPORTANT. FAMILIES ARE IMPORTANT IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON. I KNOW FAMILIES ARE IMPORTANT RIGHT HERE IN MONTEREY, AND IF WE GET THE FAMILY CONNECTION RIGHT, THEN OUR CITIES WILL GROW AND OUR CITIES WILL PROSPER, AND THEN GOD WILL BLESS US BOTH. PLEASE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO COME TO HOUSTON AS WE SHALL, ENCOURAGE THEM TO COME TO MONTEREY AND DON'T TALK ABOUT ANY OTHER CITY IN TEXAS, ESPECIALLY IN A CITY THAT BEGINS WITH A D. OKAY? WE DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT ANY CITY TO BEGIN WITH. D YOU KNOW, IF YOU LOOK AT THIS CITY, IF YOU LOOK AT HOUSTON, HOUSTON IS THE MOST CULTURALLY DIVERSE CITY [00:15:01] IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. OUR DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH, AND I THINK THAT YOU CAN SEE FROM THE GUESTS THAT WE BROUGHT WITH US THAT THAT DIVERSITY IS WHAT MAKES US STRONGER. THE POWER OF TOGETHER FOR HOUSTON IS WHAT SETS US APART FROM ALL THE OTHER CITIES THAT ARE IN THE UNITED STATES. AND ONE THING THAT I WOULD SAY IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON, UM, WE BUILD RELATIONSHIPS. WE, WE DON'T BUILD WALLS. THROUGHOUT HIS EIGHT YEARS IN OFFICE, MAYOR TURNER HAS VISITED COUNTRIES LIKE JAPAN, SOUTH AMERICA, AND AFRICA. EACH ONE HAS MADE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON KEEPING HOUSTON ON THE GLOBAL STAGE AS A HUB FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE, POSITIONED AS THE ENERGY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, AND A GLOBAL LEADER IN HEALTHCARE, AERONAUTICS, ADVANCED MANUFACTURING, INNOVATION, AND MUCH MORE. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.