HOUSTON, Texas – Houston has done it again.
A recent study by the fDi Intelligence divison of the Financial Times has placed Houston at number seven among its list of Top 10 Overall Americas Cities of the Future for 2020-21. H-town’s appearance on this list is business as usual, being ranked at No. 3 last year and No. 5 for 2019.
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The cities’ rankings are evaluated based on five categories:
- Economic potential
- Business friendliness
- Human capital and lifestyle
- Cost effectiveness
- Connectivity
Houston comes in at No. 3 for business friendliness and No. 4 for connectivity.
Susan Davenport, chief economic development officer at the Greater Houston Partnership, spoke on Space City’s innovative prestige in an InnovationMap article.
“The fact that Houston consistently ranks among the top markets for foreign direct investment speaks to our region’s connectivity and business-friendly environment,” she said. “Many of the industry sectors we target for expansion and relocation in Houston are global in nature — from energy 2.0 and life sciences to aerospace and digital tech. The infrastructure and diverse workforce that make these prime growth sectors for us among domestic players are equally attractive to international companies looking to establish or strengthen ties in the Americas.”
The proof is in the pudding, according to Greater Houston Partnership. Some of the region’s top trading partners for 2021 are China at No. 1, followed by Mexico, Brazil, Korea, Germany, The Netherlands, India, Japan, and the UK, with a total of $129.5 billion in exports being recorded for 2020.
“We talk often of Houston as a great global city—one that competes with the likes of London, Tokyo, Sao Paulo and Beijing. But that’s only possible because of our infrastructure—namely our port—and our connections around the world,” Partnership President and CEO Bob Harvey said in a release. “Houston’s ties abroad remain strong. We have long been a major international gateway and today we can tout 41 Fortune Global 1000 firms, over 1,700 foreign-owned firms operating in our region and, of course, the top U.S. port.”
Mayor Sylvester Turner is quoted in the fDi study saying, “Houston is known as one of the youngest, fastest-growing, and most diverse cities anywhere in the world. I am thrilled that we continue to be recognized for our thriving innovation ecosystem.”