Houston, Texas will be the U.S location for South Australia’s new trade and investment office.
The office will cover North and South America and forms part of the Marshall Liberal Government’s $12.8 million investment to establish five new overseas trade and investment offices.
This expanded global presence aims to help increase South Australia’s international trade and support exporters in accessing markets in the Americas, with new offices already opened in Shanghai and Tokyo.
“The Houston office will help South Australian companies gain easier access to the American region, enabling them to make connections with key distributors in order to take their products and services to both North and South America,” said Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, David Ridgway.
South Australian companies including RM Williams and NuCannaCo Science Limited have a presence in Texas, with Petrosys, a provider of mapping, modelling and data management software for oil and gas, having a US office in Houston.
“The Texas economy is comparable to Canada in terms of Gross Domestic Product and ranks as the second largest economy in the US following California,” Minister Ridgway said.
“Houston is a strategic choice for South Australia due to the synergies it shares in sectors of growth vital to our state such as food, wine and agribusiness, defence and space industries, high-tech (including cyber security) and creative industries, health industries, renewables and energy.
“The co-location of this office with Austrade, will enable us to provide real business and investment opportunities to South Australian exporters that we haven’t been able to provide in the past.”
In 2017-18, exports from South Australia to the US were valued at $994.8 million, with wine, frozen and fresh lamb and frozen meat amongst the state’s top exports to the region.
“The office will facilitate US foreign direct investment into our state and act as a first point of contact for business introductions, leads and matches to help South Australian exporters expand into the US market,” Mr Ridgway said.
“We will have the chance to really influence key business decisions and support our companies accessing the Australia – United States Free Trade Agreement to grow the state’s exports, attract investment and create jobs.
“Texas has more than 30 companies active in South Australia and since 2003, five projects from the region have been established worth an estimated $1.2 billion, creating 2,900 jobs. The City of Adelaide shares a long-standing sister-city relationship with Austin in Texas, known for its creative industries sector.
“Opportunities exist in international education partnerships with our universities already partnering with Texas higher education institutions.
“A student exchange program and annual outbound program for start-ups with Flinders University and the New Venture Institute is in place with the University of Texas at Austin. Both the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia also have exchange partnerships with Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Dallas respectively.”
For further information about planned business missions to the United States, visit
