|
In its 12th 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.
12th Annual Texas EU Business Summit
September 26, 2023
8:30am-4:45pm CDT
San Jacinto Residence and Events Hall
309 E 21st St., Austin, TX 78705
Post-Summit Reception
San Jacinto Residence & Events Hall
4:45-6:15pm
Sponsored by the Consulate General of Ireland in Austin, TX
| |
|
SAVE on Texas-EU Business Summit Registration!
Use code Summit10 and receive $10 off your registration! (Summit registration includes parking and buffet lunch.)
| |
Texas-EU Business Summit Newsletter #3 | |
One Week to Go - Register Now! | |
|
With just more than a week remaining until the annual Texas-European Union Business Summit, seats are still available but going fast. Act now to reserve your place!
Summit keynote speaker Glenn Hamer, President and CEO of the Texas Association of Business, says the summit plays a vital role in turning old ties into new business opportunities for Texas companies. "Trade is critical to the health of the Texas economy. We are an export powerhouse, exporting more goods than New York, California and Louisiana combined. The Texas-EU Business Summit will help develop new trade opportunities between our two regions, which already enjoy deep cultural and economic ties. Increased trade is a win-win and we appreciate the chance to participate in this important forum."
Participants will benefit from presentations on market conditions, case studies, and success stories for multiple European regions. Summit programming includes insider perspectives on the hottest technologies, trends, and opportunities while also familiarizing attendees with tools, programs, and expertise to benefit companies expanding into Europe for the first time or building on an existing presence. It’s not only what you know, it’s who you know: through events including pre-conference breakfast, an open buffet-style lunch designed to encourage connection-making, and closing reception hosted by the Consulate of Ireland in Austin, the Summit also delivers unique networking opportunities.
To register, view this year’s agenda, and see our list of world-class speakers, visit https://conferences.la.utexas.edu/texaseusummit/.
| |
|
In With the New:
Innovative Programming Debuts at this Year’s Summit
| |
Some parts of the summit have become recurring features of the event, including case studies, explorations of emerging opportunities, the annual cybersecurity update, and networking opportunities. “This is programming that, every year, we hear from both participants and panelists, ‘we like these things, don’t touch these things,’” explains Ben Ramirez, Vice President of the World Affairs Council of Austin, a summit cosponsor, as well as Executive Director of Austin’s Global Trade Center.
The view of Texas-European trade doesn’t look exactly the same from one year to the next. For that reason, event organizers leave large portions of each summit’s schedule open for programming built around topics which are timely or otherwise interesting and beneficial for participants. Ramirez gives us a short look at what’s new on the agenda for 2023 and how it got there.
-
The Future of Learning: How Technology is Transforming How & What We Learn is a case study focusing on tools available for workforce training. “For a company looking at doing business overseas, having the right employees is extremely important,” Ramirez explains. “We want to showcase for attendees how the next generation of internationally-savvy employees is being trained and entering the workforce right now.” With AI having an ever greater impact on business and commerce every month, Generative AI will feature strongly on the panel. Closer to home, another element of the panel will be the many tools and offerings of Austin Community College, including training programs and sourcing world-class interns.
-
Cultivating Innovation from EU Countries for the US Market brings a special focus on FinTech. Like AI, indeed there is often overlap between the two, financial technology is becoming ever more essential and effective throughout the business world. “There is some very innovative FinTech software and services coming out of Poland right now,” Ramirez describes. “We thought it was that important Texas businesses, large and small, are aware of those possibilities.”
- Dr. Michael Mosser will give an update on current trends and developments in the European energy sector, including the impact of war in Ukraine and the increasing impact of renewables. With a similar, though not identical session on last year’s agenda, Ramirez gives a potential preview of future summits. “Sometimes panels are conceived as one-offs, but the response is so positive that we keep repeating them and, eventually, they become permanent. That’s how the annual cybersecurity panel started off. Energy is important to the Texas economy and there are so many significant things happening with energy in a European context right now that this may become a recurring session.”
| | |
|
Origins: The Story Behind the First TXEUBS
& How It Became What it is Today
| |
While the first Texas-European Union Business Summit occurred 2011, Doug Biow, Director of the Center for European Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, one of the summit’s cosponsors, has been a driving force behind the event since the beginning. Biow says there are a couple of chapters in the summit’s history before that first event. “It all really starts with the decision to apply for a U.S. Department of Education Title VI in 2010.”
These grants make funding available to universities and colleges for programs related to international studies, area studies, and languages. For the first kernel of what would eventually become the Texas-EU Business Summit, Biow credits Sally Dickson, his then executive staffer. “She had an idea for an ‘ambassador roundtable,’ including discussions with stakeholders.” Dickson also proved vital other ways, including being professionally acquainted with Mortada Mohamed. Then with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Mohamed is now President of the World Affairs Council of Austin, another long-time summit sponsor. Further discussions, now including Mohamed, produced the concept of a Texas-European Union Business Summit and, as Biow describes, those involved set about applying their “leadership, dedication, contacts, and enthusiasm” to make the concept a reality.
Beginning primarily with Biow, Dickson, and Mohamed, the scope and scale of the vision rapidly ballooned. “There was always one more person wanting to be involved, one more idea added on, one more session being considered,” Biow recalls. Organizing and planning the first summit was an exciting time but also a disorienting one. “It was sink or swim. Honestly, I had no clue if it would all work.”
When it was all over, the first summit had swum, not sunk. “Folks came. Lots of them,” Biow relays. In truth, the inaugural Texas-European Union Business Summit had surpassed its organizers’ expectations. At the same time, even in the glow of that success, they also saw room for improvement and ways things could be done differently in the future. Among the changes organizers knew they would need to bring to the second summit were more session breaks, greater opportunities for participants to interact, a stronger thematic focus, and a clearer programming distribution between Western and Eastern European countries.
From that point, as Biow characterizes it, the summit “took on a life of its own.” A board of advisors was created to help manage the event and broaden the range of input into planning and promotion. Mortada Mohammad advocated for the idea that increasing the number of event sponsors would also increase the event’s ability to achieve its core objectives. Along the way, the Center for European Studies became a designated EU Center of Excellence, allowing the summit to attract more dignitaries, diplomats, and government officials.
Twelve years later, the Texas-European Union Business Summit continues to grow and evolve in response to global trends and changes in both the Texas and European business communities. “So, the TXEUBS gave rise to other ideas, which then gave rise to other possibilities for business connections. And I hope the process continues,” Biow says, expressing optimism for the event’s future.
| |
|
Texas-European Union Quick Facts
- The EU offers Texas businesses and entrepreneurs access to a diverse market of nearly 448 million customers with a GDP of $14.5 trillion.
-
Annual Texas exports to the European Union exceed $76 billion.
- Texas is the largest exporter to the European Union (exceeding #2 Louisiana, #3 California, and #4 New York combined)
- The top five Texas exports sectors to the EU are Oil & Gas ($46.8 billion), Chemicals ($10.6 billion), Computer & Electronic Products ($5.8 billion), Petroleum & Petroleum Products ($3.6 billion), and Transportation Equipment ($2.9 billion).
- Annual EU investments in Texas total over $275 billion.
- These investments create over 214,500 employment opportunities for Texans.
| |
|
A Statement on Current Conditions in Europe
The Texas-European Business Summit recognizes that the values of peace, democracy, prosperity, and self-determination are at the core of the Trans-Atlantic Relationship. We offer our support to all nations struggling to secure those values.
| | | | |
