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In its 11th year, the Texas-EU Business Summit is the premier event for Texas businesses, entrepreneurs and economic development professionals seeking to expand their footprint in Europe. The summit provides Texas businesses, entrepreneurs, policymakers and target businesses with an overview of trade and expansion business opportunities in Europe as well as information and connections to make the most of those opportunities.
11th Annual Texas EU Business Summit
May 12, 2022
8:30am-4:30pm CDT
San Jacinto Residence and Events Hall
309 E 21st St., Austin, TX 78705
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SAVE on Texas-EU Business Summit Registration!
Register before May 9, 2022 using code Summit20 and receive $20 off your registration!
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Texas-EU Business Summit Organizing Committee Statement on Current Conditions in Europe | |
The Center for European Studies, World Affairs Council Austin, and Texas-EU Business Summit Organizing Committee recognizes the values of peace, democracy, prosperity, and self-determination are at the core of the Atlantic Relationship. We offer our firm support to all nations struggling to secure those values. | |
The Texas-EU Business Summit | |
Your Source for Europe's Best, Most Current Opportunities | |
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Texans have the opportunity to hear the latest on European trade and investment opportunities at the 11th annual Texas-EU Business Summit but need to act quickly. Registration is required and spots for the May 12 event are filling up fast.
The event has become the state’s premier forum for connecting businesses, entrepreneurs, and economic development agencies with trade representatives from nations of the European Union. The EU is a market of approximately 450 million people with a combined economy of around $15 trillion, encompassing many different markets, needs, and comparative advantages.
After two years of working with the challenges of a pandemic, summit organizers are excited to again be hosting a fully in-person event. “There’s nothing like ‘embodied’ face-to-face encounters,” explained Doug Biow, Director of the Center for European Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, one of the event’s cosponsors.
Biow said this year’s event will be unlike any previous summit, not only for its content but also because of the broader context of US-EU relations in 2022. “There’s never been a time when collaborations between the US and the EU have been more urgent. The Texas-EU Business Summit is all the more important these days in building lasting economic relations among the major liberal democracies of the world.”
The Texas-EU Business Summit primes businesses and entrepreneurs to make the most of the state’s formidable advantages in trade and investment. Texas pursues trading and international investment relationships more aggressively than any other state. Texas has been America’s largest exporter for almost two decades, worth $375 billion in 2021 and more than twice the value of #2 ranked California. The Texas-European relationship is a cornerstone of our state’s economic success and the summit provides information and connections allowing businesses to help to grow that partnership further. The summit is not only for corporations and large businesses, in 2018 small and medium-sized enterprises accounted for 39.3% of all Texas exports.
“The summit provides tangible deliverables to Texans while also celebrating longstanding commercial and historical ties between Texas and Europe,” explained Ben Ramirez, executive director of the World Affairs Council of Austin, also an event cosponsor.
Summit participants will be briefed by knowledgeable experts on the business climate and opportunities within key EU markets and sectors. They will also have the opportunity to interact and make connections with European trade representatives and European enterprises.
While detailed profiles of individual sessions appear in this and previous newsletters, highlights of the 2022 summit include:
- Keynote remarks by Croatia’s ambassador to Washington, Pjer Šimunović
- A timely examination of European Energy Security and Cybersecurity
- Deep dives into leading-edge innovation in France and a broader examination of AI in the European context
- A presentation on Cybersecurity in Poland
- An overview of Hungary, providing a special focus on its tech sector and offering a case study of the Texas-Hungary Venture Bridge program.
- A discussion of Smart Cities
To learn more or to register for the event, visit https://conferences.la.utexas.edu/texaseusummit/.
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Attendees of the November 11, 2021 Texas-EU Business Summit gather for a group picture following the CEE Digital Media Awards ceremony | |
Liz Wiley, attorney with Grable Martin Fulton PLLC; co-founder of French Tech Austin; Honorary Consul of France in Austin, TX | Bruno Billy, President, Apgar North America | Alex Raguet, President, French Tech Austin | |
France Looks to New Frontiers in Tech | |
France is a frequent presence at the Texas-EU Business Summit. This year’s event will focus on a perennial strength of the French economy: high technology. Quantum, AI, Defi: Insights and Opportunities in France’s Hottest Tech Sectors takes an in-depth look at France’s role in several technologies on the leading-edge of innovation.
The panel, consisting of moderator Liz Wiley, attorney with Grable Martin Fulton PLLC, co-founder of French Tech Austin, and Honorary Consul of France in Austin; Bruno Billy, president of data advisory company and data management systems integrator Apgar North America; and Alex Raguet, president of French Tech Austin, will highlight the latest developments of France’s investment in dynamic research sectors. “France’s attractiveness as a destination for high-tech has only increased in recent years—with France still very much a ‘startup nation’ as President Macron noted,” explained Wiley.
France has emerged as a leader, alongside the much larger US and China, in quantum computing. A national initiative has earmarked €1.8 billion for investment in quantum computing over the next four years. This follows a similar initiative investing €1.5 billion in AI between 2018 and 2022. In addition to quantum computing and AI, the panel will discuss French advances in fintech and defi.
France’s technology powerhouse status is no coincidence, built on a double foundation of a talented, highly-educated workforce and attractive system of tax credits incentivizing technology investment. Panel members will discuss how Texas companies can effectively leverage those advantages. “We will not only discuss the massive ecosystems built around accelerating growth and investment in quantum computing and AI but also how France leverages public private partnerships to do so,” Wiley said.
She considers the Texas-EU Business Summit a valuable resource for Texas companies interested in connecting with France’s technology industry. “It’s a great time to put names to faces for who the local resources are here in Austin: We have French Tech Austin, the French American Chamber of Commerce of Texas, and our network of Business France offices, including right down the road in Houston.”
In addition to the Frontiers of French Tech panel, the summit also features a panel offering a broader look at industry trends in European AI.
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Q&A With Ambassador Pjer Šimunović | |
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The keynote speaker for this year’s summit is His Excellency Pjer Šimunović, Ambassador of Croatia to the United States since 2017. This is the second year Croatia has had such a prominent role in the event, with the first being in 2019. Ambassador Šimunović graciously offered us a sneak peek at his remarks as well as discussing Croatia’s economic strengths and its goals for the summit.
Q: Can you give us a quick preview of your remarks at the Texas-EU Business Summit?
A: I will discuss the importance and extent of trade and investment relations between the US and Texas with the EU. Specifically I will look at main areas of interaction like energy and IT as well as trends impacting the EU-US relationship such as global challenges and establishing reliable supply chains. There will also be a focus on current opportunities in the US/Texas-EU relationship.
Q: What are some of the advantages that Croatia offers Texas business and entrepreneurs looking for investment opportunities, partners, or new markets?
A: As a member of the EU, Croatia represents a foothold into the EU’s large common free market as well as a broadly favorable geographical position. We offer a skilled and educated labor force and Croatia has recognized strengths in particular fields including IT, tourism, and electric vehicles. We host an LNG terminal for energy imports.
Q: What is Croatia especially looking for from its business relationship with Texas?
A: Croatia wants to increase overall volume of trade and investments, joint ventures, and technology transfer. We also want be part of global supply changes. Texas offers opportunities in all those areas.
Q: Why are events like the Texas-EU Business Summit important?
A: They provide indispensable direct engagement. That allows establishing personal contacts, exchanging of views and interests, and exploring opportunities together while also providing visibility for the importance of these relationships and our interest in each other.
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H.E. Pjer Šimunović, Ambassador of Croatia to the United States of America | Dr. Michael Mosser (R), Assistant Director for the Center for European Studies interviews Amb. Pjer Šimunović (L) at the 2019 Texas-EU Business Summit about US-Croatia relations and investment opportunities. | |
Now More than Ever: European Energy Security | |
One of this year’s most timely sessions will be a panel on European Energy Security. War in Ukraine and escalating tensions with Russia have highlighted the challenges confronting Europe’s energy sector. As America’s most important energy state, Texas is in a unique position to partner with Europe in addressing those challenges and building a better, smarter, more secure energy sector for the future.
Dr. Michael Mosser, Associate Professor in Government, International Relations, and Global Studies, one of the panelists, has given us an overview of Europe’s energy security situation and preview of what the panel might look like.
Q: Can you drill down a little into how war in Ukraine is impacting European energy security?
A: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought into stark relief many of the energy security issues Europe has been facing for quite a while. The most pressing issue for the European Union and its partner states is the issue of energy supply security. Most of Europe’s thermal energy-generating capacity (i.e., power plants and heating plants) run on natural gas, much of which is imported via Russia through Ukraine. Some EU Member States get almost the entirety of their energy generating gas from Russia. Even France, with its large nuclear power sector, still supplements its nuclear power with Russian natural gas.
Q: Are there specific ways in which Texas businesses and entrepreneurs can improve Europe's energy security through trade and investment?
A: Entrepreneurs can improve European energy security through finding ways to wean Europe from natural gas in part or altogether, either through improved-efficiency renewables or through advanced nuclear facilities (such as modular and micro-nuclear power plants).
Q: What other trends in European energy security deserve mention in the panel?
A: Europe will need to finalize its “Energy Union” project, bringing EU electric grids more in line with each other and allowing electricity to flow more freely across national borders. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is a stopgap to fill the gap between Russian pipeline imports and a fully renewable future, but Europe should be cautious in investing too heavily in building LNG terminals to avoid stranded assets in the medium term.
Q: Does Texas have advantages which make it a more promising energy partner for Europe that most other US states?
A: Texas exports a great deal of liquefied natural gas, and thanks to an Energy Department ruling last week will now be able to export even more in the future. Again, this should be seen as a stopgap and not a long-term solution, given LNG’s climate impact, but Texas is well-positioned to achieve even greater market share via its expansion of LNG to Europe.
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Dr. Michael Mosser, Assistant Director of the Center for European Studies and Distinguished Scholar in the Strauss Center for International Secuity and Law | |
Texas-European Union Quick Facts
- Access to a diverse market of nearly 500 million customers with a GDP of $15.3 trillion.
- Annual Texas exports to the European Union exceed $46 billion.
- The Top Five Texas annual exports to the EU by sector are: Computers and Electronics – $5.3 billion; Petroleum and Coal Products – $2.8 billion; Chemicals – $8 billion; Transportation Equipment – $2.5 billion; and Machinery $1.5 billion.
- Annual EU investments in Texas total over $275 billion.
- These investments resulted in over 214,500 employment opportunities for Texans.
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