British Ambassador to the United States Sir Nigel Sheinwald visited Texas this week. His second trip to the state took him to Austin and San Antonio to promote UK-Texas trade relations and discuss foreign policy challenges that affect Texans.
Austin
The Ambassador visited the state capital Austin on Tuesday 9 February to meet state and city officials, including the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, Mayor Lee Leffingwell, and political experts and academics, to get a clear view of where Texas is headed in the coming elections, how it is addressing economic recovery as well as the transition to a green economy.
At the LBJ Presidential Library, the Ambassador delivered a major policy speech on Afghanistan, outlining the UK's commitment and the political moves that the Afghan Government must make to stabilise the country in the long term.
The Ambassador said:
"The war in Afghanistan and the related challenges we face across the border in Pakistan constitute the top foreign policy and security priority for the British Government. The reason is simple: like the US Administration, we believe that we must prevent Afghanistan from becoming once again a safe haven for Al Qaeda and international terrorists who plan to do us harm."
During his visit to Austin Ambassador Sheinwald also promoted the UK Trade and Investment mission to the South by Southwest digital media and music conference, to be held in Austin next month. SXSW is a major opportunity for UK companies and artists to establish their names, and over 100 British companies will be represented along with many British bands.
San Antonio
In San Antonio, the Ambassador met with Mayor Julián Castro, as well as representatives from the Texas Lyceum, an association that includes the next generation of top leaders.
On Thursday 11 February, he delivered a keynote speech to a joint session of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and World Affairs Council. Mayor Castro and Texas State Senator Jeff Wentworth were also in attendance. Ambassador Sheinwald used the opportunity to stress the importance of free trade to the global economic recovery.
The Ambassador said:
"There is a great danger of neglecting economic openness in times of downturn. During my time as British Ambassador to the United States I have seen these arguments play out. Free trade can become a scapegoat for the woes of the overall economy. It can be portrayed as a threat to jobs which are shipped overseas. It can be seen as giving foreigners a foothold in the US market, crowding out American companies, without reciprocal openness in the other direction. At any one time there’s a rash of protectionist or restrictive measures in the Congress – Buy American; new aviation restrictions; anti-competitive fixes in financial services and other areas. We and our EU partners spend a lot of time fire-fighting. Let’s be honest: free trade is not a vote-winner in US politics at present.
"But these arguments are false friends. Let there be no doubt. We must have the courage of our convictions, and trumpet free trade as the way out of the crisis. It opens new markets. It allows comparative advantage to function. No single country can do everything better than everyone else."
Later on Thursday, Ambassador Sheinwald met students from the University of Texas San Antonio for a roundtable discussion on international issues and foreign policy, including trade, the Middle East and the 2012 Olympics in London.
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