In April, the world’s largest economic bloc is coming to Austin. The World Affairs Council of Austin is proud to join the European Center of Excellence at the University of Texas at Austinin co-hosting the 2013 Texas-EU Summit.

The event is held April 24, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Austin, brings trade promotion experts and businesspeople from European Union (EU) nations to Austin for panels, and meetings with the Texas business community. The event is a unique face-to-face opportunity for Austin businesses to make connections and learn about current inbound and outbound business opportunities with Europe.

“This is a big opportunity for Austin businesses,” says Ben Ramirez, International Economic Development Manager for the City of Austin “When you look at who is buying Austin products or where international investment into Austin comes from, it’s the European Union, places like France, Germany and the United Kingdom.”

The 27 nations of the European Union represent a combined economy of $17.6 trillion (compared with $15.1 trillion for the United States and $7.4 billion for China) [IMF 2011]. As a market of more than half a billion people, the EU includes both leading economies such as Germany, France, Italy the Netherlands and the United Kingdom as well as emerging economies such the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Texas and the EU already have a robust economic relationship. The United Kingdom, Germany and France are the leading sources of foreign direct investment in the state. Texas is America’s largest exporter to the EU, $29.2 billion in 2011 (accounting for 10.9% of all US exports to the EU). Texas’ lucrative export trade is expanding rapidly, growing 64% between 2006 and 2011, including a remarkable 34% jump between 2010 and 2011. Experts project that significant further potential remains for growth in the Texas-EU relationship.

Dr. Douglas Biow (Director of the Center of European Studies and the EU Center of Excellence at UT-Austin), says the 2013 Texas-EU Summit will be even more impressive. “This is a one-ofa-kind opportunity for those interested in business in, or investment with, Europe by allowing them to interact with people who are truly in the know. The European Union presents an incredible business opportunity for Austin, and we hope to see a record number of people coming out to this year’s summit.”

For more information about the 2013 Texas-EU Summit or to register for this year’s event, contact, Regina Schneider at (512)223-1078, email: rchneid@austincc.edu