Chicago has seen a significant increase in the presence of international consulates, and trade and investment offices over the past five years. In fact, Chicago, with some 77 Consulates General and Honorary Consulates, is one of the fastest-growing consular hubs in the nation. There are over 100 foreign trade and investment representative offices and ethnic/national Chambers of Commerce in addition to the Consulates. World Business Chicago has assisted with international offices including the Swiss Business Hub USA, the main point of contact in the U.S. for Swiss companies interested in the US market; the Basque Trade Commission (the only US office); and the Hungarian Investment and Trade Agency among others.
New Consulates 2001-present
- Australian Consulate General (2001)
- Bosnia & Herzegovina Consulate General (2004)
- Bulgarian Consulate General (2005)
- Pakistan Consulate General
- Serbia and Montenegro Consulate General
Major Consular Expansion
- Japanese Consulate General, expansion from four state service area to ten, absorbing former Kansas City Consulate service area, 2005
New International Trade Offices/Chambers/Consulates 2001-present (list not necessarily exhaustive)
- Australian Trade and Investment Agencies
- Argentine American Midwest Chamber of Commerce
- Basque Trade Commission
- British Midlands
- Czech – North American Chamber of Commerce
- Czech Republic Consulate General (upgrade from Honorary, Jan. 2006)
- Dusseldorf Messe (Trade show promotion)
- Hungarian Investment and Trade Agency
- Instituto Valenciano de la Exportacion (IVEX, Valencia, Spain)
- KolnMesse, Inc. (Trade show agency, move from NYC)
- Midwest US-Japan Association
- Invest in Northern France Agency
- Invesstement Québec
- North American Representative Office, Shenzhen, China
- Normandie Developpement
- Peruvian-American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago
- Port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Swiss Business Hub USA
- Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce
- Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), June 2005
- Zhejiang, China, Chamber of Commerce in USA
Local moves
- Flanders Investment and Trade (from Lisle to Downtown Chicago, 2003)
- The North of England (Relocation from Rolling Meadows to Downtown Chicago 2005)
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