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International Business and Trade
International trade directly or indirectly supports more than one-third of all jobs in the Houston metropolitan area.
Combined with deep resources of leadership in energy, medicine and information technology, Houston is a gateway for commerce with countries around the world.
Houston’s international trade is facilitated by one of the largest consular corps in the nation – the city consistently ranks among the top three U.S. cities in number of consulates.
Eighty-seven foreign governments have official representation here through consulates or trade offices.
Houston has 17 sister-city relationships promoting business and investment opportunities across six continents: Australia (1), Asia (6), Europe (7), Africa (1) and Americas (2).
Houston leads
Texas
in the number of multinational companies. According to Texas Economic Development, the Houston CMSA in 2000 was home to 49.9 percent of Texas companies with operations abroad (1,558 of 3,123) and had 46.6 percent of foreign firms with operations in
Texas
(704 of 1,512).
Houston-based companies account for more than 60 percent of
Texas
companies that export abroad.
The 2006 International Houston directory lists 3,010 Houston area firms, foreign government offices and nonprofit organizations involved in international business.
Nearly 470
Houston
companies report having offices abroad in 122 countries around the globe. More than 640 firms in
Houston
report having foreign ownership. Survey results show 96 countries have either business offices or government representation in
Houston
.
Houston is a key international financial center. Eleven foreign banks from 12 nations have operations here.
Forty-one foreign governments maintain trade and commercial offices here, and the city has
23 active foreign chambers of commerce and trade associations.
In 2006, Houston ranked as the nation's fourth largest customs district with more than $162.2 billion in total trade.
Source: Greater Houston Partnership: International Houston
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