The Honorable Annise D. Parker, Mayor of City of Houston on the first Mayoral visit leading a Trade Mission to India

The City of Houston, Greater Houston Partnership, representatives of the Port of Houston, Indo American Chamber of Commerce, business and Indian American community leaders from Houston will be on a trade mission to India led by The Honorable Annise D. Parker, Mayor of City of Houston from 17 – 25 April, 2015.  This will be the first ever trade mission led by any Mayor of the City of Houston to India. Her official visit covers New Delhi and Mumbai.   

2. The mission will focus on increasing trade and investment between Houston and India, in a range of sectors including energy, civil aviation, manufacturing, engineering, infrastructure, skills and human resource development, healthcare, transportation and oil and gas.  The delegation will meet with several Ministers of the Government of India in New Delhi, the Mayor of Mumbai, corporate heads, business and industry professionals, chambers of commerce and academia to facilitate trade and foreign investment.

3. The City of Houston is a critical economic partner for India. Houston is the second largest US Port for Trade with India, when ranked by value of goods shipped. Waterborne trade between the Port of Houston and India in 2014 represented $4.1 billion worth of goods – around $3 billion representing Indian exports and around $1.1 billion in Indian imports.

4. Indian Companies from the private and public sector have investments in the oil and gas sector in Texas worth billions of dollars and are headquartered in Houston. They also have a strong presence in manufacturing and the services industry. The Houston-India bilateral economic engagement has been growing and forms a crucial component of the rapidly expanding and multi-faceted relations between India and the U.S. It is estimated that there are over 130,000 members of the Indian American Community in the Greater Houston area contributing to its economic development and to its diversity. Thousands of Indian students are currently pursuing higher education in the various Universities and colleges in the Greater Houston area.

5.  On the occasion of the departure of the Trade Mission, Consul General Parvathaneni Harish said: "Honorable Mayor Parker had in her letter of congratulations addressed to Honorable Prime Minister after the general elections expressed her determination to lead a trade delegation to India for leveraging the deep synergies and substantive economic relationships between Houston and India. I am happy that the 'Make in India' campaign initiated by the Prime Minister has found resonance among the business and industry elites accompanying the Mayor. There has been a huge and positive response to the 'Make in India' business and industry interaction initiated by the Consulate with the Greater Houston Partnership and Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Houston, Dallas, Austin and El Paso. The Trade Mission led by Mayor Parker represents Houston’s strengths in a wide variety of infrastructure areas including Ports, Highways, Construction and Airports. A component of the Trade Mission would also be visiting and exploring trade and investment opportunities with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh. The visit is an important milestone and will see Texas and Houston emerge as an important lynchpin in the strengthening bilateral economic engagement".