HOUSTON, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- A Houston-based investor on Sunday signed an agreement with a local enterprise in Laredo, a United States border city with Mexico, to renovate a historic local building.
Gao Long, the Houston-based businessman with Chinese origin, said they invest in the city of Laredo because of its huge trade potential.
As the largest inland port in Texas and the second largest of its kind in the United States, Laredo had more than 300 billion U.S. dollars of import and export trade volume last year.
The Mercy Hospital building, soon to become the World Free Trade Plaza, is located in the geographical center of Laredo. It will likely see a mixed-use repurposing for office, retail, commercial and residential space, with the aim of expanding the global trade opportunities.
"The World Free Trade center invites all trading companies to share the platform, create wealth, lead the future and set off a new chapter in the free trade industry," Gao said in the MOU signing ceremony.
Mayor of Laredo Pete Saenz agreed with Gao on its impacts on the global trade. "Ambitious projects such as these are what make cities great, and move cities from regional powerhouses to global movers," wrote Saenz in a congratulatory letter.
Chendo Carranco, the chairman of local real estate company Laredo Lomas Properties, which signed the MOU with Gao, said that the project is expected to cost 60 million U.S. dollars. It'll take 18 to 24 months to finish the largest Chinese investment in Laredo so far.
"It's a free trade and duty-free plaza," Carranco said. "So Mr. Gao and others are going to bring in products from all over the world and showcase them in Laredo and then they can sell it to wholesale or retail to individuals in Mexico, Central America, South America and the world."
Andrew Carranco, the project manager of Laredo Lomas Properties, added that "this new project will revolutionize the way we view trade on the U.S.-Mexican border by enlarging our North American scope to a truly global outlook."
The border city has a population of about 260,000, according to a 2017 report by United States Census Bureau. Tens of thousands of trucks pass daily through the city on the 14-lane World Trade International Bridge crossing the Rio Grande River between the United States and Mexico.
The Mercy Building, which has been vacant for almost 20 years, sits on a hill in the historic Laredo Heights neighborhood.
