AGENDA & SPEAKER'S LIST

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24th
08:00 - 09:00 Business Breakfast
09:15 - 10:15 Plenary 1
10:30 - 11:30 Breakout Sessions
12:00 - 13:45 Luncheon
14:00 - 15:00 Plenary 2
15:15 - 16:30 Breakout Sessions
16:30 - 19:30 Expo / Reception
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25th
08:00 - 09:15 Business Breakfast
09:30 - 10:30 Plenary 3
​10:45 - 11:45 Breakout Sessions
12:00 - 13:30 Luncheon
​13:45 - 14:45 Plenary 4
15:00 - 16:30 Breakout Sessions
17:00 - 20:30 Expo/ Reception Dinner
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26th
08:00- 10:00 Business Breakfast
​10:15 - 12:00 Plenary 5
12:00 - 17:00 Field Trips
Download Complete Program

DAY 1: MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2016

Business Breakfast
Welcome to Houston: Gateway to the Americas 2016
​8:00 - 9:00 a.m.


​Keynote Speaker
RENU KHATOR
President, University of Houston
Chancellor, University of Houston System​

Plenary 1
​Houston: Gateway to the Americas
​9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m

Horacio Licón (Moderator)
Vice President, International Investment and Trade
Greater Houston Partnership
Jorge Franz
​Senior Vice President and Chief Economic Development Officer
Houston First

Breakout Sessions AM
​10:30 - 11:30 a.m

Business Services / Legal / Franchises
Starting your business in Houston
Pete Garcia (Moderator)
Executive Director
US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce
 Camilo Muñoz 
President 
Translation Source
Jose Perez
Partner
Foster Global
Carla Arimont
Amrop Seeliger & Condo
Gladys Campero
Soul and Brain
Rafael Alexandri
Vice President of Business Development
Estafeta USA

Technology
Houston: World Class Innovation Center
Paul Frison (Moderator)
Executive Vice Chairman
Houston Technology Center
Brad Burke
Managing Director
Rice Alliance
David R. Hansen
Chairman
MIT Enterprise Forum of Texas
Braulio Perdigao
CEO & Founder
Petrolessons
Jane Lea Hicks
Director, Client Acceleration 
​Houston Technology Center
Erik M. Halvorsen
Director
Innovation Institute at Texas Medical Center 
Tourism
Even Tourism is Bigger in Texas​
Jorge Franz (Moderator)
​Senior Vice President and Chief Economic Development Officer
Houston First
Kathy Anderson
Anderson Retail Tourism Marketing
River Oaks District
Patti Voss
Account Director
​Leisure Texas Area
Westin Galleria and Westin Oaks Galleria
Rolf Meyer
Managing Director Sales - Mexico
​United Airlines

 Luncheon
Houston Region Prospects and Opportunities
12:00 - 1:45 p.m.
Amb. Juan B. Sosa
General Consul
Consulate of Panama in Houston
Andy Meyers
Fort Bend County
Vince Ryan
​Former Board Member
​Panama Canal Commission
David Robinson
City Council
Robert Gallegos
City Council

 Plenary 2
Trade: The Cornerstone of Economic Development
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Edmundo Gonzalez
Pro Mexico
Pete Garcia (Moderator)
Executive Director
US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce
Pam Plagens
 Manufacturing Industry Director
U.S Commercial Service
Percy Pelaez
President and Founder Central American Chamber of Commerce.
Carlos Lara
Chairman
The Houston Technology Center (HTC Americas/ HTC Global)
​
Jeffrey Wiley
Fort Bend Economic Development Corporation
Elena Bustamante
Trade Representative
Pro Colombia

Breakout Sessions PM
3:15 - 4:15 p.m

Education
Houston: Committed to help Latin America achieve excellence, success and vision towards the future through education
Jaime Ortiz (Moderator)
​Vice Provost Global Strategies and Studies
​University of Houston
Reg Pecen
President and Professor
North American University (NAU)
Julian Cardenas
Research Assistant Professor
The University of Houston Law Center Faculty
Gerry Lin
Senior Director of Graduate Programs, College of Engineering 
Lamar University
Daniel Perez
Department Chair, Economics and Finance University of St. Thomas
David Vassar
Associate Vice President for Global Affairs
Rice University
Transportation
Houston's state of the art transportation infrastructure
Genaro Peña (Moderator)
Partner​
​Amrop Seeliger & Conde
Luis Avilés
​Senior Executive - Air Service Development
Houston Airport System (HAS)
Silvia Marucci
Leader, International Trade Specialist
Panama Canal Authority
Jason Miura
Director of Business Economic
​Development 
Port Freeport
Kristian Scayola
Sr. Regional Manager
​Americas Cargo Operations
United Airlines

Shane Williams
 Trade Zone Administrator 
Port of Houston Authority

DAY 2: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

Business Breakfast
Trade Evolution in the Americas
​8:00 - 9:15 a.m.
Amb. Juan B. Sosa
General Consul
Consulate of Panama in Houston
Pete Garcia 
Executive Director
US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce
Claudia Rojas (Moderator)
Executive Director
Colombia-Texas Chamber of Commerce

Plenary 3
Texas - Panama Canal: The Next Global Trade Corridor
9:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Felix Carles
ACOBIR
Amb. Juan B. Sosa  (Moderator)
General Consul
Consulate of Panama in Houston
Silvia Marucci
Leader, International Trade Specialist
Panama Canal Authority

Breakout Sessions
10: 45 - 11:45 a.m

Real Estate
The Real Estate Industry: Land of Opportunity
Nelly Mitford
Vice Chair, International Advisory Group
Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) 
Minor Taylor
Property Connections
Richard Miranda
Miranda International Realty Advisors
Michael Butler
Keller Williams Commercial
Eric Van Hoorde
ACOBIR
Infrastructure / Engineering / Architecture
Houston Ports: Infrastructure on the Move
Bill Diehl
President
Greater Houston Port Bureau
Kevin Keller
Vice President 
HDR Engineering, Inc
Dave Weston
Vice President and Department Manager
HDR Engineering, Inc
Mark Vincent
Director, Channel Development 
Port of Houston Authority
Industry / Manufacturing
Choosing Houston for your Manufacturing
Luz Damaris
​Vice President 
Goya Foods Texas
Damien Garza
Board Director
Greater Houston Manufacturer's Association (GHMA)
Genaro Peña (Moderator)
Partner​
​Amrop Seeliger & Conde
Pete Garcia 
​Executive Director
US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce

Luncheon
Economic Development
​12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m
Carlos Pacheco
Consul General
​Costa Rica
Gabriel Volpi
Consul General
Argentina
            Kenneth Smith            
Head of the Trade and
​NAFTA Office
Ministry of Economy of Mexico
Amb. Juan B. Sosa
General Consul
Consulate of Panama in Houston

Plenary 4
Latin America Economic Outlook
​1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m
Al Zapanta
President and CEO
US Mexico Chamber of Commerce
Marcial Nava
Principal Economist
BBVA Compass

Breakout Sessions
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m

Energy / Gas & Oil / Petrochemical
Session 1 -  Oil & Gas Industry Transformation: Building the Next Generation of Oil and Gas companies
Reagan Dukes
Research Director
Wood Mackenzie
Juan Felipe Arjona
Corporate New Ventures and Technology Manager
Technip
Tim Tirlia
International Exploration Drilling Manager
Anadarko
John D. Furlow (Moderator)
Partner, Corporate & Securities practice 
Mayer Brown
Jorge G. Sanchez
Sana Energy
Energy / Gas & Oil / Petrochemical
Session 2 -  Changing Political Winds Open New Opportunities in Latin America
Sebastián Borgarello
Vice President 
Latin America Upstream Consulting 
Wood Mackenzie
     Rodolfo Guzmán
     Managing Partner
     Arthur D. Little’s 
George Baker
Publisher,
Mexico Energy Intelligence
Edmundo González
Head of Houston Office
ProMexico
        Angel F. Curet
Logistics
Houston's State of the Art Logistics Infrastructure
Dale Tibodeau
Assistant Professor & Director of Bauer Supply Chain Forum
University of Houston
Julian Flores
 One Point Logistics (OPL)
Genaro Peña (Moderator)
​Partner​
​Amrop Seeliger & Conde
​Eric Andrews
Chairman
AMS&T
Kristian Scayola
Sr. Regional Manager
​Americas Cargo Operations
United Airlines
Silvia Marucci
Leader, International Trade Specialist
Panama Canal Authority

DAY 3: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2016

 Business Breakfast 1
Houston Association of Realtors (HAR)
​& Asociación Panameña de Corredores y Promotores de Bienes raíces (ACOBIR)
Multi-country dialogue and opportunities
​8:00 - 10:00 a.m
Nelly Mitford
Vice Chair, International Advisory Group
Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) 
Eric Van Hoorder
ACOBIR

Business Breakfast 2
HEB, Goya, Mi Pueblito, FIESTA, Port of Houston, Cyclone Enterprises
Conversation between Texas leaders and Latin America Countries
​8:00 - 10:00 a.m

Plenary 5
​Moving Forward
10:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m

Ariel Sztern
President
Argentina-Texas Chamber of Commerce
Ariel Bosio
Vice President
Argentina-Texas Chamber of Commerce
Cid Silveira
Executive Director
Brasil-Texas Chamber of Commerce
Gustavo Macha
President and CEO
Peruvian-American Chamber of Commerce of Houston
Enrique Sosa
Executive Director
US-Panama Business Council
Pete Garcia
Executive Director
US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce
Adriana González
President / CEO
Cámara de Empresarios Latinos de Houston
John Cypher
Director, Americas
​Greater Houston Partnership
Claudia Rojas (Moderator)
Executive Director
Colombia-Texas Chamber of Commerce
Jagdip Ahluwalia
Executive Director
Indo - American Chamber of Commerce
Percy Pelaez
President and Founder
​Central American Chamber of Commerce.
Victoria Bryant
President
World Chamber of Commerce of Texas
Rosendo (Ross) Villareal 
President - The Woodlands Chapter
Asociacion de Empresarios Mexicanos (AEM)
Gino Demeneghi
Canacintra