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Harris County, TX, August 25, 2025, Judge Hidalgo joined the Greater Houston Partnership and the Consular Corps of Houston to reaffirm Harris County’s commitment to building strong international partnerships. She also helped honor Ambassador Valerie Baraban, the 2024-2025 Dean of Consular Corps 2024-25 and retiring Consul General of France in Houston, at the event, as well as welcome the new Dean of the Consular Corps, Consul Kai Hennig.

Judge Hidalgo and Ambassador Baraban recently traveled to Paris on the first-ever Harris County trade mission. They helped drive international investment to our region, with almost 50 French companies traveling to the Houston/Harris County area over the next year as a direct result of the trade mission.

“We achieved incredible progress on our trade mission to Paris, with nearly 50 companies traveling to the Harris County area within the next year as a direct result of our meetings with Ambassador Baraban. I can’t wait to continue building what we started in France. We often forget that Houston is an international city, and the seat of many consular offices for our region. This was the largest consular corps meeting they’ve had in years, and I was so excited to see the energy and commitment to cooperation. I look forward to continuing to work with our international partners, especially under Consul Hennig’s leadership, to bring more economic development to our region, ” said Judge Lina Hidalgo.

Below are more details about the results of Judge Hidalgo’s trade mission to Paris earlier this year:

• As a result of Judge Hidalgo’s meeting with MEDEF International, France’s largest employer federation, they will visit Houston/Harris County during CERAWeek 2026.
• BPIFrance, the country’s largest investment bank, will bring 20 companies to Houston in March 2026 to host a French-American business forum in Houston for the first time ever. This will help spur collaboration and innovation between the two regions.
• Evolen, an energy trade association, will visit Houston with 25 companies this upcoming winter to explore international partnerships in the energy industry with our region. 

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