A delegation of Louisiana business and industry executives are wrapping up a three-day trade mission in Mexico today, during which they’ve been meeting with private sector and government officials in hopes of tapping into new business opportunities.
More than 30 representatives from Louisiana arrived in Yucatán on Wednesday as part of the trip, which is being led by the Louisiana Committee of 100 and the World Trade Center of New Orleans.
“This is the second meeting between Mexican and U.S. states on the Gulf of Mexico to renew a longtime program to extend relations between these regions sharing many synergies from business to cultural,” says Michael Olivier, CEO of the Louisiana Committee of 100 and also chairman of the World Trade Center International Business Committee, in a prepared release. “C100 hosted the inaugural meeting in New Orleans in November to determine if the states wished to renew the program initiated by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in the 1990s.”
Olivier says the consul general of Mexico in New Orleans, Ramon Gonzalez Jameson, is a coordinating figure in the effort to restart the Gulf States Initiative that began in 1992.
Among others, included in the Louisiana delegation are companies such as T. Baker Smith, Ochsner International, Gulf Coast Bank and Intermarine. Organizations include the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, Louisiana Tax Free Shopping, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and the Port of New Orleans.
The agenda includes pre-arranged business matchmaking sessions as well as the signing of two new partnership agreements, including an academic exchange agreement between the University of New Orleans and the Universidad del Mayab, S.C., and an international memorandum of understanding between the Arts Council of New Orleans and the Cultura of Yucatan, AC.
“We are excited to lead this mission and see great opportunities for our Louisiana companies in a number of key industries,” says Dominik Knoll, CEO of the World Trade Center of New Orleans. “Given the advantages between our two regions such as close proximity, trade routes and historical business and educational relationships, we have an opportunity to build on that for the greater benefit of both economies.”
In October of last year, the Committee of 100—in cooperation with the District Export Council and the U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Service Office in New Orleans—led a delegation of 57 university and business leaders on a trade mission to Panama.
