Villalobos on Gov. Abbott’s trade mission to Asia: The Valley did not drop the ball.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos has defended a decision by cities and economic development organizations in the Rio Grande Valley not to go on a big trade mission to Asia with Gov. Greg Abbott.

Accompanying Abbott on the trip to Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are Adriana Cruz, executive director of in the governor’s economic development and tourism office, Adrian Cannady, board secretary of Texas Economic Development Corporation, Aaron Demerson, president and CEO of Texas Economic Development Corporation, and a delegation of five Texas legislators and 23 Texas business and community leaders.

No one from the Valley or Laredo is on the trip. The Borderplex Alliance, which represents El Paso, Santa Teresa and Ciudad Juarez, is represented on the tour.

Brownsville Mayor John Cowen, Jr., and CEO Group leader Joaquin Spamer believe the Valley should have been represented. Mayor Villalobos takes a different view.

Villalobos spoke about the Asia tour during a press conference held by the South Texas Alliance of Cities in Brownsville. Asked by a Rio Grande Guardian reporter if the Valley had dropped the ball by not participating on the tour, Villalobos said:

“I don’t say we have dropped the ball. As a matter of fact, that is something we are looking at. If somebody goes and opens up the door, the opportunity, for example, like the way the governor is, it makes it a lot easier, for example, for McAllen or an organization to go do what they’ve already done. They are opening up doors, and that’s something that I hope everybody realizes.”

It was pointed out to Villalobos that cities with much smaller populations that the Valley (such as Kilgore, McKinney, Temple, and Victoria) are on the Asia tour.

“Sure, and that’s fine,” Villalobos responded. “But my point is, they’re opening doors. And once that happens, because I’ve had the invites… subsequent to the visit to India, I’ve had invites from people in the Asian community to go follow up on the visit by the Governor. So that’s precisely what I’m saying.”

Villalobos intimated that McAllen and some other Valley cities might band together and visit the countries that Gov. Abbott is currently touring.

“So, I think it’d be stronger… because I’m looking at possibly going and having Edinburg, Brownsville, other municipalities go with us. Because really it is… we’re thinking now about RioPlex, we’re thinking about our area. So, if we do it more as an area instead of one individual city, it is a lot stronger. The governor is out there, he is opening doors, so we got to take advantage of that.”

Veteran broadcaster Ron Whitlock, of Ron Whitlock Reports, asked Villalobos if the Governor had reached out to McAllen to invite its leaders to join him on the door.

“I did not (receive an invite). I don’t know about any other administration,” Villalobos replied.

On his Asia trade mission, Gov. Greg Abbott toured Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor facility In Pyeongtaek, South Korea. It is the largest of its type in the world. Samsung has two semiconductor fabrication facilities in Austin, Texas, and one under construction in Taylor, Texas. (Photo credit: Gov. Abbott’s Office)

Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza also participated in the South Texas Alliance of Cities press conference. Responding to the questions raised about Gov. Abbott’s Asia tour, Garza said:

“Let me just say real quickly regarding economic development: I think all of us here are united to advocate for the best interests of this region (as far as) economic development (is concerned).

“We had that economic summit. The Governor came down, remember that. We’re going to be following up on that as a region. As I mentioned, we’re 50 cities in our region. So that is something that we’re going to continue working towards.

“But I agree with Mayor Villalobos. The Governor is opening doors. It is up to us to ensure that we follow up. And because this is about the whole state, about the whole area, we need to capitalize on that ourselves. And I think we’re all the same page to do that.”

Laredo Mayor Victor D. Treviño also participated in the South Texas Alliance of Cities press conference. His assistant, Jose Ollervides, who accompanied him to Brownsville, confirmed the City of Laredo is not represented on Gov. Abbott’s Asia tour. He said perhaps Laredo-based IBC Bank and/or Laredo Economic Development Corporation might be on the tour. According to a press release from Governor Abbott, they are not.

Editor’s Note: The Guardian has contacted the Governor’s press office to ask if Valley leaders were invited on the Asian tour. We will bring the press office’s response as soon as it comes in.

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