 Hello and good evening. How you guys doing? Awesome. Well, I'm excited about this amazing conversation over cocktails about the arts of Diplomacy. My name is Michael Henderson, and I'm representing the future form Board of Directors. So if you are a board member, if you can wave your hands forward. Awesome. I Want to also thank our sponsors The downtown Austin Alliance as well as the fvf law firm the future forms events are made possible by amazing and incredible members As well as our sponsors By a show of hands, is this your first future form event? Awesome. Well, I keep saying future form, but let me explain really what the future form is it we bring together individuals from different backgrounds, experiences and points of view to discuss local statewide national and international topics that affect us Today our goal is to create civil informed and bipartisan discussions With that in mind, please respect be respectful of our visitors and our speakers tonight. We all have opinions, right and Here is a stage and here is a platform to celebrate those If you're not a member I before you leave I strongly encourage you to see what the future form has to offer I am excited and honored to hear from my guest today Mr. Pablo Marintas he serves as the general counsel of Mexico based here in Austin. So been many those If you join me give him a round of applause You know, Mexico in addition wanted to introduce to everyone mr. Richard hide He's a counsel general of the United Kingdom based in Houston and moderating today's discussion is Miss Adriana Cruz. I'm so excited because I feel like my career has come full circle About five or six years ago when I first moved back from Texas after school from Washington gentlemen in the audience by the name of Aaron dimerson said that I should have coffee With Adriana fast forward a few years later, and I'm at the podium introducing her continuing our conversation started many years ago She serves as the executive director of economic development of tourism and Governor Greg Abbott's office Last but not least after our discussion we're gonna have time for question and answers So remember that questions in the question mark. So this is not a time for statements but we want to give you that platform to do that and with that now I'll turn our Discussion over to miss Adriana Cruz to moderate this discussion Thank you. Well, thank you. Thank you so much Michael, and it's wonderful to see you again, and we've come full circle Thank you so much, and it's great to be here with you It's an honor to be on the stage with these two distinguished gentlemen and diplomats from two extraordinarily important countries for the state of Texas and as stated my name is Adriana Cruz I'm the executive director of the economic development and tourism office in the office of governor Abbott and We're gonna get started Texas has an incredibly strong and growing economic and cultural Relationship with both Mexico and the United Kingdom And I'm gonna go over a quick bio of our two guests just to give you all Some idea of their experience and their background Pablo Marentes was appointed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to serve as the consul general of Mexico in Austin since July 2019 The consul holds a law degree Graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico Unam He is a professor at the Faculty of Political Science of Unam as well as other Universities and consul Marentes has extensive experience in media Including as a collaborator for journals print media television and radio He has held the following positions Minister in charge of cultural affairs at the Mexican Embassy in Washington the consul general of Mexico in New York the consul general of Mexico in San Francisco and he is the author of several books and articles Regarding the social effects of communication political parties and the history of public television in Mexico and Richard Hyde Commenced his position as her Majesty's consul general in Houston in June 2019 So both of you started in 2019 as consul general He has responsibilities for leading the UK's engagement in the states of Oklahoma Texas Arkansas Louisiana and New Mexico, but we know which one is your favorite No comment his priorities and responsibilities include developing political ties between the UK and the consular district enhancing trade and investment Partnerships promoting science and innovation links and supporting the delivery of consular services As a career diplomat consul Hyde has served in a range of positions around the world Including in Caracas, Venezuela in San Jose Costa Rica. So the Espanol is still most or minus bien. Yes, most or minus The head of advanced manufacturing investment team at the UK trade and investment in London. So my my position in London at British Deputy High Commissioner in Hyderabad, India and Bangalore, India as well as positions in Armenia and Saudi Arabia and vice consul in Paris So thank you both for joining us this evening as we learn more about your countries Your experiences in Texas and your country's relationship with Texas and just to put this a little bit more in context Texas ranks as the country's number one exporter for 21 years in a row and That's thanks to the partnership with our top trading partner of Mexico and our trade with the United Kingdom and Texas also ranks as the United States number one location for foreign direct investment and we'll get into that In a minute as well. So to start off Let's talk about your consular offices and a lot of people don't know what the difference is between an embassy and a console So Consul Marentes, let's start with you the difference between the embassy and the console and the duties you provide establish that on the Quantity of fun that we can have doing the job and I think embassies are not so So happy as we consoles are so This is I Pablo Marentes I Have been in the consular and in the diplomatic part of Some positions My government has told me to perform and I had the gladly it done them although My age was not Appropriate for that. I was too old So here I am and you can't do anything about me And I will happily yell for that and try to answer Very seriously on whatever you try to strike To me at any time. It's a privilege to be in this Wonderful university I First knew about this university Because I had the privilege that a brother of mine Reserved at the house of the Physical education head and And please don't be bothered by this of Texts a name So here I am you can do after that Anything you want to do with me and I will be glad to perform whatever you want. I Have done Many visits to this Part of the world which I have seen Growing I know the area when This city was no city. It was just a Nice place to come sometimes As a As a nice way to spend time looking at nature and I Lived with a couple Which was a very unusual couple She was beautiful Beautiful and The man that was married to him was a real athlete and he commanded the Physical education department at that time in Their school which was The very very Not well known The educational institution in Texas and maybe also in this continent that Attracted a lot of people pupils from many other countries in this hemisphere So one of my great thoughts Permanent thinking Is the experience that I had here Since I was ten years old. I used to live In the house of the man that was possible to train a Very good swimmer for the 1938 Olympics in Germany and he was Something that the real Tarzan would have Would have wanted to be that was impossible the man that I'm talking about defeated in the 1938 Olympics in breaststroke and Also, the other one that you use your two arms in order to conduct you through to the Finishing of the race freestyle Yeah, yeah, that's it. I think that's what it is I'm not a swimmer So I think I am a little part of the citizens Citizenship of Texas because my brother and I lived here Some years Some years ago. Well, we accept you as a Texan. We we we make you ambassador of Texas I will be happy To to wear all the hatchet did you tell me and where the kind of loading it's necessary to achieve that great honor Absolutely, absolutely. I thank you so very much for the opportunity of Letting me talk and share these unforgettable moments, which I am Spending now or living now With you as a mother writer and you also as one of the Men of Knowledge To make a wonderful relationship with the country that you are sent Thank you, console Thank you so very much console height so Just like in Texas when people think about Washington, they sigh in Whidley We do the same so the embassy is in Washington The embassy is is the formal representation of the whole country to the whole country And we in the UK in that's a kingdom. We split the United States up into into chunks I obviously I have the best bit the bit where the people are Instinctively friendly and warm and welcoming towards the UK where I have way too much fun I'm never in my office, which my much my staff are really grateful for But it's a big region, but so so a console general basically is the ambassadors representative in a region of a country But the the challenges that you have in the United States between federal and state exists in diplomacy as well, so One of my challenges as I've been here is to is to understand Texans, which is kind of hard The accent sometimes throws me as well But Austin is not Dallas Dallas is not Fort Worth Fort Worth It's not San Antonio and San Antonio is not Houston and none of those are Midland or Odessa or El Paso or Texacana or Kilgore all you're the weird and what's not weird so interesting places. I've been to unique unique Thank you They're all unique so so what I've learned very quickly is that there's no such thing There's no such thing as a as a is a typical Texan Lot of different Texans and I only understand that by getting out and driving around and visiting as many places I can I have a colleague of mine who has me on the road every summer because only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in The in the August weather to drive around Texas But last year two years ago. We went all up and down the border We went drove to Midland Odessa El Paso all the way down to to Boca Chica and then Corpus Christi back to back to Houston and this year We were doing a similar trip up east Texas We have to Kilgore where my colleagues father played football for the high school was she was more of a celebrity than I was Then we went over to Nagadosius, Texacana and we all the way up to Wichita Falls, which I've had to learn to pronounce properly And then the queen died so I had to drive all the way back again So we still have the panhandle to do but the reason I tell you all of that is that when I talk to my colleagues in Washington They just don't understand They don't understand what I'm talking about and speak in a foreign language to them And that's the challenge and diplomacy that we have is to explain to people life exists beyond the Beltway and Life exists in abundance. It's vibrant. It's economically spectacular. We talk. We've been talking We had the parliamentary delegation here last week driving around. We were in Houston Austin Fort Worth Dallas They kept getting this message the Texas miracle and it is a miracle. It's a miracle of growth. It's a miracle of ingenuity It's incredibly impressive And it's only by bringing people here and shown around can they understand why I get so enthusiastic and excited about Texas And why I am the most annoying person to work with because I talk about Texas and the other states to all the time Not really the other states. I Be in Oklahoma next week, I'll be talking a lot about Oklahoma But the reality is is that all of these states are interesting, but Texas is the big beast It's it's a huge economy 2.4 trillion GDP It's added the economy of a large country in the last three or four years. It's growth rates You know in double digits which are not seen in developing countries developing countries do not grow at 10% a year Texas is growing faster than all the developing countries in the world It's it is it is an economic miracle and in no small part to the work that Adriana is doing in promoting Texas as an investment destination But all that again said to explain that my colleagues in Washington other than the ambassador who gets it don't really understand That and my colleagues in the UK don't really understand it so I always I always enjoy when I'm sitting with it with a colleague from Mexico because For Mexicans, Texas is the most important state in the United States But British people think in terms of two coasts and so my job here is to explain to them that it's all about the third coast it's all about the The Sun Belt and two-thirds of the Sun Belt is Texas and it needs to come here to understand the future of America The future of demographics of America and the future of the economy of America and so the more we bring them over They might be show them some good Texas hospitality put a hat on get some boots on enjoy some two-step in just for fun Barbecue, well, I don't ever get into conversations about barbecue because my colleague from Kansas City insists That's where barbecue was wrong wrong. I don't want I don't want to call her out She maybe she should stand up and identify herself You can argue with her later But but I've learned one thing I've learned in Texas is never people always ask me Where can you get the best tackle very dangerous conversation and where is the best barbecue also very dangerous conversation? And the third conversations is like my colleague touched on is what's your college football team now? I have a confession to make the very first trip I did in my first week in this job and this and in the art of diplomacy I'm neither an artist nor diplomatic and I tell you this story My first trip was to was to Oklahoma I'm naively Gov. Governor Steve got me on my first day in the job and said to me do you have a college team? I said no it has to be OU. I K I came back to the office very proud of my OU badge Didn't end well didn't end well and sit it doesn't end well I know exactly where I am. Yeah, I'm hoping you're gonna defend me But anyway, I know I've been converted been converted back to having no college teams, but that's just a way of saying It's too dangerous. Even high school is even worse But all that to say that you could you've got to really get under the skin of The people that you're working with and I've worked in lots of countries around the world It's the first country I've lived in where the first language kind of is the same And it makes it so much easier to understand people to communicate with people to get to know people to break bread with people And to figure out that what you see on the TV what you hear in the news what you read on social media Doesn't reflect what is fundamentally an incredibly hospitable Community here in Texas. They look a little different from place to place They sound a little different from place to place They believe a little different from place to place But there are some fundamental values that underpin everyone in Texas and they're the values that my country likes to share Excellent. Thank you. Well, just a little fun fact for for the audience. You mentioned the the Texas Miracle $2.4 trillion GDP last quarter The Texas economy grew at 7% Which is not not only larger than developing countries, but larger than the United States as a whole so Fun fact you can say you learned a lot from these guys and that's another fact that you've learned and and console hide you talked about your tour of Texas, which I think you called Britfest Was it Britfest? No. No is the Mad Dogs English mentor. Okay, Britfest was a big party We had an Austin for the start of the session. That's right. That's right. So you did your tour of Texas You have not finished you have learned a lot What surprised you as you went out and explored Texas? I think diversity I think when you think about diversity in Texas You think about the growth of the Hispanic population and how you know, it's the biggest single voting block within within the state You think about the the relative youth Young population in Texas. We just when you think about diversity That's what you think about rational ethnic diversity, but actually it's not it's the mindset There is a very different mindset. I mentioned it a minute ago You know when I'm in Dallas, I talk about Dallas Fort Worth when I'm in Fort Worth I talk about Fort Worth and Dallas you've got to be very careful because the people are very different you know cow town is not the big deal they're very different cities and It's that diversity. I mean I mentioned before there was some fundamental principles that that run right through like steel Rods in the building right through Texas You know the beliefs and Liberty freedom democracy all those things that we cherish But there's a little subtle differences from place to place and I never make assumptions when I'm at one very important Lessons never make assumptions when you drive into a town. I was I'll tell a story. I always tell stories I was in a Walmart gas station in the middle of nowhere in my white Jaguar with the with the Union flag the British flag painted on the sides With a 24th trailer on the back that I was that pulled 2,000 miles from from Houston First of all, you know, nobody in Texas can understand why I would pull a trailer in an SUV But anyway, I was and there's a lady a lady of a certain age pulled up next to me There's two two pumps She was facing me in a beaten-up old Statial wagon with holes in the back and she got out and she was a she was a large lady ever probably about 75 And she was wearing some kind of really Lame pajamas And she put $5 into her car and she went to the to the pump and came back again And she looked at me and I thought what's she gonna say? She says I love your country Got in a car and drove away, and I'm thinking this is in the middle of nowhere. So Texans You know, I never make assumptions. So everyone's a little bit different and you know, I've really enjoyed celebrating those differences I've driven around and you know sometimes You can you can go to a country or you can go to a state where you can go to a city And you can assume that you understand what's going on there And I can live here for probably 50 years and never quite understand what's happening and what's making people take in Texas But what I do know is it's good Excellent. Well, good. Great answer And console Marentes Mexico is such an important partner to Texas our number one trade partner with 285 billion total in trade between Texas and Mexico and Mexico's a top destination for investment from Texas companies and we're also home to significant investment from Mexican companies. So the the relationship with Texaco with with Texaco Literally said that Mexico and Texas Is is familial it's cultural it's economic Can you talk to us a little bit about the importance of this relationship between Texas and Mexico? First of all, I must say that Must make a correction. Oh a correction on the way you call both countries at the same time We were trying to Establish that the best way to refer to both countries. It was Max Tex Max Tex because it sounds like a tortilla mix It's very Healthy to eat tortillas and have a taste of them when you put some of that wonderful meat that only Mexican cooks Our wise Can make in attack. I Certainly will if I ever can afford to make a Wonderful meeting with you and inviting you I will give you thin tacos very thin ones but very tasty very tasty and You will see another facet of Mexico Mexico is the expert of making tacos So I think be aware of that I think the answer to where the best tacos is Mexico, I think I think we can agree on that Or or console Marin. This is house, maybe I Ate the first tacos in my life When I went to a very nice small school Which was standing at the top of Hill and You can see the whole campus of Texas A&M and The school that I was going to go it was Texas A&M Consolidated high school. So there were no There were no hesitation in telling that the Authorities the academic authorities of Texas A&M were preparing to receive a Lot of Mexicans When somebody at the school board said I Don't think we should have All those Mexicans here what we will do With the guys that need the higher education Why don't we dismiss all the Mexicans? So we can count with another many many other spaces for Americans to study so the great great part of students at the of A&M Had to move To a small ranch Nearby here and That was the second ranch that they were going to have now that same entity of Real People that love to cultivate the land They never Forgot what the Mexicans could do in Putting the Small Epitas small Things that will grow very quickly Seeds seeds seeds So They established nearby another small Texas A&M And it was a wonderful school After the new authorities of Texas A&M So what Mexicans could do by themselves They brought them back To Texas A&M And we Mexicans were very proud of it and We are still because To come to school In a part that was Mexico some time ago It was very comforting that Texan territory would not be closed for Mexicans anymore So it was a great experience we had and since then I See when the relationships of the Mexican The Mexican Aggies I would say because we have two or three Agricultural and mechanical colleges in Mexico now following the model of Texas A&M And it was great when everybody saw That if not in any other way, but in the teaching of how to Grow things in the earth for the Keeping good health in In a place which being healthy was something rather of a miracle, but since we are doing this not a Big happening That two countries are working all the time for themselves You don't have to do anything else You don't have to announce that we live together almost together and Many of Mexicans come here and although they're sometimes Being told why don't you go back to Mexico You have many opportunities and he said we need the airplanes We need the boats and everything else to transport and we use all that and You see that you can be Also well-nourished by the way we cultivate land This will be again something that bring us together and That's the lesson I have had and that's why I was very very Satisfied not being sent to one of the sophisticated very sophisticated Populations on the earth Or even in the United States we were all together just one Great piece of humanity Getting together in order to have a surplus of production And whenever we need To send something to a starving nation We can do that and That's the way we think Mexicans think that's what the agriculture Practice is done We can feed the world Both countries without trying to be hostile one two-dollar That's my lesson and I will never be tired of Telling this a small story or how cooperation between two powerful countries Texas is really almost an independent country Mexico it's also Gaining again independence from It's another way now Not Texas against Mexico, but Mexico against Texas. Okay, and I'm very We are all friends if you Listen to the way we Mexicans us Mexicans are received at the house of the Americans living in the nice places of the big big big the biggest the biggest political entity in the world being a good acquaintance with one of the Countries that was privileged in order to That to live Nearby that country I'm getting so many other things that I've been usual and very very nourishing for our country That cooperation and collaboration is is so important and I'm originally from Laredo From the border and that relationship between Texas and Mexico is is foundational to so many of the economies of the communities Along along the border from El Paso to Brownsville. So thank you for that story Console hide when you did your tour of Texas and I was following you on LinkedIn as you were going Across the the state community to community and you had to cut it short because of the unfortunate passing of Her Majesty the Queen which we all the world and the country really mourned with with you and your fellow countrymen and we are now Getting ready. Well, we not we but you all are getting ready for a historic occasion Which is the coronation of the the new monarch? Can you Tell us about that what it what is happening with that and it's a two-part question, but tell me How that is is going in in your country and what you all are doing in preparation for that? Yeah, it's it's gonna be an interesting month of May For both in the UK, but also all around the world. So we're obviously We're all gonna be celebrating in different ways. We're gonna do it in a Texas style, of course Which means it can be bigger than everybody else's So we so yeah, the coronation my mom my mother is 83 and she was 11 when when we last had a coronation She's just about remembers it But what's really struck me both in the passing of Her Majesty and also in the last few months and now for the coronation is the incredible Depth of interest and understanding in Texas of the UK Which is part of the part of our problem is that you know We're not that interesting a country for Texans because they kind of know as pretty well already We're not as exciting as as a as a country that you've never visited or you don't know much about So the outpouring of affection when Her Majesty passed was was it was Incredible and really moving. I mean my team and I you know, we opened a condolence book, which is fairly typical at the consulate in Houston, but then we had a huge level of interest in Austin and the Secretary of State said yeah come along open my office You can use my office we can we can do a condolence book there So we opened the book here in Austin for the day It was it was swamped and then we said well, let's go to Dallas as well The merit Dallas opened an office there and people came from far and wide Almost all Americans almost all Texans with a few from Louisiana a few from Oklahoma, but I was they Why would why would people do this this didn't make any sense to me? That of course I got on the phone calls set from from from President Bush saying he would like to sign a condolence book So I had to drive back to Dallas and he and Mrs. Bush signed the book as well Which was a really big moments as well for us and it was some beautiful messages I'm if anyone's ever met President Bush some great stories about his encounters With the Queen as well all of which were funny all of which his mother was not impressed with So, you know, he told me all these stories It was a really uplifting moment that everybody from from regular folks You just happened to be in Austin and wanted to sign a book through to the former president who specifically wanted to sign a book It was a kind of right across Texas people were really interested In the life and the passing of Her Majesty and that's continued through to the coronation. So 6th of May Is a big day in the UK? It's a formal religious ceremony like the coronation It's all about anointing with oils very similar to a baptism or in you know Catholic or Christian baptism. It's it's a religious ceremony and it's about passing of the baton literally It's there's a there's an orb of office There's a crown of course as well and that's going to be a big formal ceremony But the King has been very clear. He also wants there to be community elements of this as well So we're having this big day on Monday in the UK. It's a public holiday in the UK Sadly, it's not a public holiday for my team. I'm making them all work But it's but it's a public holiday in the UK and everybody has been encouraged to go out to volunteer and to Contribute in some way to their community. So in that spirit on on jubilee and coronation day itself We're gonna have a big party in the evening, which of course as Brits we like to have a good party With music and dancing and all the fun and festivities But in the morning, we're gonna work with the Buffalo Bayou Foundation in Houston And we're gathering schools from right across Houston for all the different parts of the town. We've got Junior organizations. We've got seniors organizations. We've got all kinds of people come together We're all gonna put on our boots and we're gonna go out and we're gonna clean up the bayou And that's gonna be the big deal for a couple of hours in the morning. Hopefully not too hot Hopefully not raining. Hopefully not a storm, but we're gonna go out there I'm gonna just put something back into the community So the coronation for us is about celebrating this thousand-year-old ritual of passing on the leadership and Also, it's about remembering where we are where we're from where we live now and how we need to give back to our Community so the King has been very very clear That's what he wants us to do have some fun, but give back as well And that kind of resonates with my experience of Texas as well people You know, the United States is very different from the UK in many respects one respect is it's much more individualistic Which much much less, you know, it's more about you know personal ambition and being able to deliver and success is everything Whereas in the UK we tend to celebrate failure a little bit more We kind of enjoy a good loser, which is probably why Ted Lasso is so popular But you know, we we so we we are a little bit different But one thing we do understand is that when times are tough communities matter and we need to remember Where we come from and give back to those people as well So that's why when I you know, we pitched the idea around our team We had a huge uptake from the team But as we've gone into the churches and to schools and to community everyone's like yeah What a great idea what a great way of being part of this by actually just doing something for the community as well So so yeah, it's gonna be fun the In the way you described it is is really a compelling because it's the first Coronation in many Lifetimes right like many of us alive today to have no have no no other Monarch of the United Kingdom other than Queen Elizabeth and I read somewhere someone said, you know to you all She was your queen, but to the rest of the world. She was the queen Like the right only queen, you know, well, there are other queens, but Anyway, it was a really interesting and Thank you for for sharing that and what the plan is because I think it's something that that's very Interesting and I want to be mindful of time and I wanted to open it up to the audience to see if anybody Has any questions that they wanted to ask the consoles. Yes, sir I wish you'd asked me that about text as I could have seen this. I've got a few books. I could have recommended I Mean, it's a bit of an easy and a bit of a pat answer I've had if I could think about it a bit more I could probably come up with a better idea but there's various there's various biographies of Churchill and That you could read which gives a sense of And I was listening to a podcast as I was driving over from Dallas earlier They were talking about World War two and how basically Britain was on its knees It was almost bankrupt. It was running out of pilots It was running out of the ability to fight the Luftwaffe the bombs bombers over London every night But yeah, the indomitable spirit of a single man with the ability to communicate Just kept the nation going and I think it's that spirit of you know, I joke before about we know We celebrate losers. We do celebrate losers. We know we participation is important to us Winning is not everything but losing is not Possible and I think you know when I think about Ukraine now and people ask me why the UK is so passionate about the defense of Ukraine It's because you cannot accept Defeat in those terms and that's what spirit that under under underpins the country. That's the steel backbone That comes through in any any good biography of Churchill and there were several out there But you get a sense of what what the UK is about, you know, you had this false We all have our faults the UK is certainly not a perfect in in history And you know, but what's an all fault and all that spirit is what what defines the country? console Marentes a book about Mexico that would Highlight for for people what the true spirit of Mexico is that are you worded it Steve the character the character of Mexico? really wanted to Recommend one single book Which will give you an idea what Mexico is now? but somebody told me that In that book there were many other things which are left out Why I don't know But there are some other Books, which I call virgin books because they are exactly as they were written No additions no no bad treatment or anything and I Certainly would like to send I don't know to what Collective address Giving you Four or five Titles of books and maybe I could invest Some of my very scarce money In sending you the collection of three books which are trying to I let one of my my appreciated friends at the Consulate if you can receive my The titles of the three books I'm thinking of and Try to Let them have being have by by the people that wanted to know a little bit more about Economics Theater Fun Thank you Just remember a book actually is one very very good book you must read if you haven't read it It's by Bill Bryson's called tales from a small island. This is an American who lived in the UK for many years Writes about the UK. It's not necessarily flattering about the UK But it's a great encapsulation of all the quirkiness that that makes us the odd the odd country that we are and Console had I'm cured. Did you say you there's a list of books about Texas that you would recommend? Yes I was given a long list of books to read before I came here They didn't they didn't all say the same thing. So it was slightly confusing, but I read is a God save Texas by Author from Austin actually which was brilliant book It's taught me all I need to know and then I came here and lend everything else But I've learned a lot since I've been here excellent another question If not, I have more questions. I have I have yes. Yes, ma'am. Oh well that that for for folks that don't know the governor's Cup is the award that goes to the state with the most economic development projects in the country and last year our team tracked over a thousand relocation and expansion projects in the state that Created about 60,000 jobs and 40 billion dollars of capital investment and the the reason for that is Many right the the business climate that we have the reasonable regulatory environment the economic Resiliency that that console hide was was referring to companies are looking at the state as a potential for Investment the workforce that we have and I know we have the workforce commission commissioner for employers and commissioner Demersen With us, but the the workforce that we have the diverse population Young population That employers are looking for fast-growing state So many many reasons But I think also in the state of Texas economic development is a team sport and we work with our local community partners Across the state of Texas with our state agency partners like the workforce commission the Department of Transportation And of course we work with our consular partners to help get the word out about Texas And and so that's one of the reasons thank you for the question But one of the reasons why I was so interested in Honored to moderate the panel with the two of you because both are such important Partners in our economic growth and in our economic story So and that so that was my question, but now you have a question for them It kind of helped that Texas was open first So he so he so they could travel but but it also goes I mean we spend we spend 18 months in the pandemic on Endless zoom calls and team teams calls and we're depressed as anybody else But it was actually a phenomenal opportunity because as you mentioned earlier, this is a pretty big state and a pretty big region So actually flying around and driving around this is it takes time But actually COVID allowed me to get out virtually into different communities. So before we did our road trips We actually did a whole series of virtual visits to we did to the real Grand Valley We did to to the border plexi region and it's something to Oklahoma and to Arkansas into Louisiana into New Mexico and then to with Dallas Fort Worth You know all everywhere you can think of in Texas We reached out and we had a whole series of meetings in one day with MERS and local economic development agencies With various universities and citizens groups and all kinds of different people that I would never Normally get to meet if I had to drive there and back because it's far So it covered was an opportunity and that helped us build up a huge amount of knowledge Most of which I then immediately forget but my colleagues thankfully are cleverer than me and we were able then to translate that into a pitch So, you know it available, you know massively understates incredible success that Texas has had I mean the numbers that she's quotes are just mind-blowing they're bigger than many big big economies around the world So what the success of the economic development here is incredible, but we're able then to translate that into into Bite-sized chunks for our ministers to explain to them. Where do you need to go to? and and Texas was we warmed them up so much in COVID that they were itching to come as soon as as soon as they could as I say We also helped a you know, Los Angeles and New York when I opened So so we were able to get to Texas But but they came here and now the problems we now have is we can't stop them coming every minute I was at the group last week I've got a group this week I've got a group next week It's non-stop active action now because everyone's now woken up to the fact that if you want to do business If you want to succeed if you want to have fun come to Texas And fortunately we are now victims of your and our own success So yeah, that's why they came and that's why they won't stay away. I'll take it I'll take it. All right. Any any other question? Yes, sir To be honest, you know in the UK we are instinctive free traders, so we don't distinguish So I'm as happy to see a UK company set up in Texas As I am to see a Texas company set up in the UK So many countries think in terms of export promotion and foreign direct investment promotion They don't like their companies to move Because that's exporting jobs in a very naive and narrow interpretation. We don't care about that We just want trade to flow in two directions Now we're blessed because we have so much overseas investment in the UK that we have a balance of payments deficit So we quite like the idea of our companies going overseas being successful and then repatriating wealth But a lot of countries don't do that a lot of countries of instinctively protectionist They don't like their companies moving abroad because it takes jobs with them. So for us Covid was it was difficult for two reasons. One is the other supply chain crunch that you mentioned so Things ground to a halt the man ground to a halt Supply the supply chains in Asia in particular ground to a halt and There was a massive global uncertainty in the economy in the in the markets as well So investment decisions ground to a halt as well But in addition to that in the UK, of course, we had Brexit which which we officially triggered during Covid So we had a completely changed our supply chain And the way we engage in trade in our nearest market in the European Union So we had a you know, it's a double whammy. I think is the expression we will triple whammy We were we were facing challenges all around but but I think we just focused Entirely extensively and completely on promoting the idea That trade is good. The protectionism is bad. The barriers are bad and we focused around How do we just get our companies to talk to companies here? As I said a minute ago, it's very simplistic answer But said a minute ago if you put companies in touch with each other if you get them to communicate then they will do business now Two years ago three years ago the idea of a company doing an end-to-end contract overseas in the United States Even less chance in India or some Saharan Africa or Latin America But even in the United States a company doing an end-to-end business contract for a major export or a major financial Partnership without meeting was unheard of that would never have happened. It happens all the time now So the way we do business has changed companies will do Virtual business in a way that they wouldn't do before so today so the pandemic was a major challenge to us It's still our economy is still hurting on the back of it recovery has been tough for us But but what we've now seen is a change in the way people do business people are much more trusting of technology And they're doing business remotely so we focused on putting people in a virtual room And then you'll be I think you'd like to hear this I see the role of governments is to put people in the room and then get the hell out of the room and leave them to it And that's what we do and we do that all the time and I you know I was I was you know half the size and Complete black hair when I arrived here I just travel endlessly and endlessly and endlessly to find the people here to put in their room with Brits And then get out of the way let them do business and that's what we found Virtually join COVID made it much much easier to do that and now it's I'm back on the road again It's much more difficult but Fundamentally, we just generated huge volumes of relationships and many of more of those relationships are bearing fruit And so we're seeing lots and every every few three or four days I have a call there's a new British company opening in Texas somewhere. Can I come and take part? So from a trade and investment standpoint our number one trading Texas is the number one exporting state in the United States and the number one trading partner is right here Mexico Texas is also the number one location for foreign direct investment in the United States and the number one source of FDI is sitting right over there so Critically important right the trade side and the foreign direct investment side and we see it the same way it is a it is a two-way street if a Texas company is exporting products in Mexico or in Europe and they decide to open a facility in Mexico or Europe that is a win for us because they're just growing their business They're expanding their business and that's a success for for everybody So I know we're out of time, but we have a gentleman with a question. So please Thank you all for being here In regards to the Texas economy we talked about the GDP growth In your respective roles are there specific? Concerns or expectations with the current macroeconomic environment specifically rising inflation countries deciding to Remove away from the dollar being the reserve currency and then this new tech of cryptocurrency and central bank digital currencies Are there specific concerns or expectations given the current environment? I Can have a stab at that. I mean the answer is yes to all of the above We were afraid of all of those things that the biggest fear I have and it's not Texas specific thing It's a it's a this just this happened in the in a 2008 financial crash as well where politicians and legislators are not nimble and informed enough or Expert enough to make the changes that need to be made to cope with a new and evolving economy So the economy now is different to the economy three years ago the global economy has changed It doesn't look anything like and it's going to change again Would it be through crypto and the use of Bitcoin or or moving from a from a to a yuan based, you know Central currency by the way, we've been talking about that for 30 years. I don't really that's going to happen But but but the reality is is that my biggest fear and this is and I think in Texas a little more nimble but in my own country across the European Union in in countries In the big developing economies in India and China and people are not responding quickly enough and And aggressively enough to meet the new demands and the biggest challenge the biggest outcome of that failure will be a growing growing Size of the well that the rich will get much much richer and the poor get much much poorer and that that kind of The way we measure success in GDP doesn't tell the whole story You know, we're all very mindful of the fact that you know We've spent 30 years since the 1990s pulling millions of people out of poverty across the world There is a risk that we if we don't respond adequately enough to the changes in the economy Globally and domestically is that some of those people will slip back into poverty in our own countries But in Sub-Saharan Africa in Latin America and other parts of the world's the global south is at risk if we don't get this Right, and that's a big global concern for all of us All right, thank you I believe it's 730 Are we good to take one more question or we wrapped? Oh my gosh, there's three questions Are we good? Don't meet people asleep? I'd not thought you know, well, they've got cocktails in their hands, so I think they're It's making it all anyway. Yes, please go ahead Interesting question. So my role in Latin America as I was based initially in Caracas in Venezuela But then I moved because of challenges of working there and moving around to Costa Rica to very different countries probably is probably the two most different countries. I've ever had the pleasure of working in My role was I ran our trade and investment operations for the UK government across the Caribbean and Central America And I also covered the northern part of of South America, so Columbia, Ecuador as well as Venezuela The key difference between that and Texas is scale International trade is It's very very difficult unless you can immediately access a scale scalable market It's if you look with the vast majority of international trade is done by smaller medium-sized companies They do not have the capital or the capacity or the labor or the time to be experimental And so you need a scalable market quickly most of those economies Obviously, Columbia is a Columbia Venezuela in theory of bigger but Panama Costa Rica the Caribbean islands They have to have a very very unique opportunity to be able to go and do good business there Whereas in Texas, you can almost do anything because every sector is available and there's a 30 million 32 million population here now with a you know, we mentioned 2.4 trillion dollar economy. It's also a relatively wealthy state It's a relatively young state young people like to spend money on interesting things So if you've got almost any product or service, you can do it You can sell it in in in Texas if you you know if you're smart enough to go to the right part of the state India is a very very different thing 1.3 billion people 650 million people live in abject poverty. So there's no market there at all for for most products There's about 250 to 300 million middle class So it's very very large economy still to be able to do business in but it's incredibly bureaucratic It's incredibly slow the legal system takes years and years and years to resolve anything So if you're an IP rich company, it's very difficult to do business there because your IP is stolen in theory You can you can get recompense but it'll take 30 years. Who's gonna wait 30 years? So it's a challenging environment to work in but the gains are spectacular if you can do it So completely different market very small-scale very niche large-scale You can do everything in Texas in the air. You can do some things really really well, but much much higher risk Well ladies and gentlemen, we can continue our conversations over cocktails and I want to thank console Marentes console hide for your time this evening and for your Expertise and for sharing your stories As we talk about diplomacy and culture and we'll continue to have conversations over cocktails So thank you all very much for joining