Dallas

New French Trade Office Highlights New Dallas International District

Dallas Mayor hopes to attract more trade offices

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Dallas leaders Monday celebrated a new French trade office which they hope will be the first from many nations in the Dallas International District.

The International District is the new brand for the area between the Galleria and Preston Road north on LBJ Freeway.

French Perrier water and French pastries added flavor to the ribbon cutting.

“Today is a very special day for Dallas,” Mayor Eric Johnson said.

A White House reception and state dinner this week for the French President demonstrated the long-time allies facing challenges together.  The new Dallas office opened in the same week.

“And the two things highlight the very strong ties that we have, France and the United States,” Deputy French Ambassador Aurélie Bonal said. “We are working together, the U.S. and France to build a more sustainable and inclusive ecosystem and more robust and resilient supply chains.”

Dignitaries at the Dallas event included several former U.S. Ambassadors from Dallas, including Jeanne Philips who now leads Mayor Johnson’s International Advisory Council.

“We wanted to have a place where all of the various countries who wanted to have a trade office could be together,” Phillips said.

Near the Dallas Galleria, the French Trade Office is in a small office building the Ccty of Dallas purchased with room for more trade offices.

It is part of the Dallas vision for an International District.

Nearby is another office building the Dallas Independent School District recently purchased to house an International Science, Technology and Math high school. Hotels and apartments housing an international population are also in the area Dallas is promoting as an International District.

“The idea is, we are going to be the epicenter in this part of the country for economic relations with the rest of the world,” Johnson said. “We believe this is going to benefit Dallas enormously and people will copy this when they realize how smart it was for a city to show these foreign countries that this is the place you want to be.”

Mayor Johnson met just a year ago with the French Consul General Valérie Baraban from Houston, who also attended Monday’s ribbon cutting in Dallas.

“And here we are today. I'm delighted to say in a short time we have already gone a long way,” she said.

Phillips thanked the French officials for being the first trade office in the International District.

“We are so honored that you have chosen to open this trade office in Dallas. It’s a big signal to the rest of our trading partners,” Phillips said.

Though the Texas French Consulate is in Houston, Dallas has 6 consulates from other nations.  Mayor Johnson said he would like to see more in Dallas, but attracting additional foreign trade offices like the one from France is a more realistic goal.

“We’re talking to all of them off and on. We’ve honed in on the next three or four. So, we’re hoping that that will be happening very soon,” Phillips said.

The Dallas International District also includes the former Valley View mall site, however, the developer planning a new project on that site said he still prefers to call his property Midtown Dallas.

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