NBSO Texas is proud to have been part of this special visit, which celebrated and strengthened the economic and cultural ties between the Netherlands and Texas.
For 2 days, Her Majesty and the Dutch delegation participated in various programs in Austin and Houston. In Austin, she was welcomed by Governor Gregg Abbott and Mayor Steven Adler. Queen Máxima toured the city on e-bikes together with the Mayor Adler, who proclaimed September 8th as Netherlands-Austin Friendship Day.
Later, Her Majesty visited the Capital Factory innovation center, where she attendeded an event for startups, tech companies, and investors. She continued her tour at the Austin Health Care Forum, which focused on the future of healthcare and opportunities for Austin and the Netherlands to exchange expertise on digital technologies.
Sports and sports technology were an important part of the evening program at the network dinner hosted by Honorary Consul Marius Haas at the Austin FC Stadium.
Upon her arrival at Houston City Hal the next morning, Her Majesty was warmly welcomed by Dutch and Texas school kids, who treated her with presents and hugs.
After, at the Roundtable on Urban Resilience at Allen’s Landing, Queen Máxima and Mayor Sylvester Turner witnessed the Letter of Intent between Rotterdam and Houston. The LOI was signed by Arnoud Molenaar (Chief Resilience Officer Rotterdam) and Priya Zachariah, AICP (Chief Resilience and Sustainability Officer Houston). The agreement promotes knowledge sharing and furthering innovation between the cities to enhance urban resilience in the areas of water management solutions, energy resilience, climate mitigation and adaptation. Next, Her Majesty went on a boat tour on the Buffalo Bayou, where she learned more about Houston’s flood history and resilience.
In the afternoon, she participated in the Roundtable about Coastal Protection, a mutually important topic, during which the existing strong collaborative ties between the Netherlands and Texas in the triple helix were further advanced. The meeting included the launch ceremony of the book “Coastal Flood Risk Reduction – The Netherlands and the US. Upper Texas Coast”, written by our NBSO Chief Representative, Bee Kothuis, Texas A&M, Rijkswaterstaat, TU Delft, Defacto and multiple other Dutch and Texan authors.
In Life Sciences and Health domain, Her Majesty visited MD Anderson, the largest cancer center in the United States, where she learned about innovative treatments.
The packed economic program ended with Round Tables on Energy Transition, Ports and Hydrogen at the Greater Houston Partnership. At the conclusion of the CEO Roundtable a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by GHP and VNO-NCW in the presence of Her Majesty outlining the strong commitment to the bilateral relationship between The Netherlands and Houston in the areas discussed.
The visit concluded with a Royal Reception in Houston at the Museum of Fine Arts, where Queen Máxima spoke with several local representatives and Dutch entrepreneurs and Ambassador André Haspels introduced the new Honorary Consul of the Netherlands in Houston, Ms. Aura Cuellar.
We are very happy to have been part in this unique Royal Visit to Texas! Special thanks to all our partners for their support and for helping us to make this possible! We look forward to further advancing the economic collaboration between the Netherlands and Texas.