Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Celebrates 10 Years of Strengthening Economic and Cultural Partnership Between New York and Puerto Rico

Governor Kathy Hochul today celebrated the 10th anniversary of New York State's Office of Trade and Tourism in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Established in 2015, the Office was created to recognize and promote the enduring connection between New York and Puerto Rico, and to strengthen their mutual economic, cultural and governmental ties. Over the past decade, The Office of Trade and Tourism has generated more than $68 million in trade, and continues to create connections, partnerships and opportunity across industries - from craft food and beverages to life sciences and technology, to agribusiness and tourism.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Great to be here back in Puerto Rico. It's such a beautiful place on Earth. And buenas noches a todos. I also took note of, when the introductions were done, that the former boxer got more applause than anybody. Clearly, just like New York, you like to fight here.

So first of all, to Betty and your team - Betty Enriquez has really taken this opportunity and this vision to a whole new level. And when you first opened an office a decade ago - and I was Lieutenant Governor at that time - you weren't sure what the possibilities were. But she had a vision as well as her team about how we can really introduce products from New York State to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and really create a synergy that is beneficial to both. And so, another round applause to Betty and your team for all the great work you do.

And Hope Knight to be here, this is the big deal. She covers economic development for the entire State of New York. She travels incessantly and I want to thank her for her many years of public service. Let's give her another round of applause, our CEO and President of ESD.

Great to be back here in beautiful Puerto Rico, and I'm told that there was a poet, Virgilio Dávila, who once called this an "ornament like no other." And that is a really beautiful symbol of uniqueness of this part of the world as I reference. And for 10 years, - diez años, what I remember back to high school Spanish - we've worked hard to help shine up this beautiful ornament as well, and to put a special spotlight. And as a result, we have so many more New Yorkers who come and visit.

And it's not just during SOMOS. They're coming year round. Over 600,000 New York tourists have come to Puerto Rico, and the bonds are - as you mentioned, the word bond - they're so powerful. The fact that New York City and New York State are home to over a million Puerto Ricans. This is family. This is not even many miles across the Atlantic. It is our family, and that is the sense that I have when I return here every year. And so, we wanted to continue - through this office - to continue to elevate opportunities and go where others have not gone before. And you think about how we've allocated trade and distribution dollars.

I always ask for numbers. I said, "How many bottles of wine have been brought down from the Finger Lakes, the Hudson Valley, Long Island to be sold here?" And I was told it was 15,000.

I said, "For a place that loves its rum and other drinks." I said I was impressed with that. I thought maybe four or five bottles, but 15,000 - that's extraordinary.

And that's a great benefit to those folks back home, the farmers back home who are struggling and looking for new marketplaces - and 143,000 bottles of Saratoga Water. I mean, I'm real parched. I love the blue bottles, they're so pretty and the water tastes so fabulous. And also 4.2 million of our best apples, and onions, and the cabbages and all that produce. And of course, what do we bring back? I'm a real fan of mangoes. We're getting mangoes from Puerto Rico, watermelons, papayas and other products as well.

This has been also an opportunity, not just for the economic development you read about, but also creating jobs. And we can directly correlate these efforts to over 120 jobs that have been created and almost $70 million of economic impact. But I can talk about economics, and numbers and data, but it's about the people and making people feel united - especially at a time when everything feels so divisive, the news you see back in the mainland, and elsewhere and around the world. It just seems like there's so many relationships that are frayed and fragile, and it's so good to know that we are continuing to deepen this powerful strength between our two places. And I continue to want to do that. I'll continue to come here year after year and let NYSDOT be our economic command center.

But not just when things are going well. We're not just sunny day friends. We're rainy day friends as well. So when natural disasters hit, this is really our coordinating efforts. And Betty's always on the front line. Whether it's the hurricanes that come through or just the issues with the grid, and reliability and earthquakes - and I've been here a lot of time for relief efforts.

Sometimes it just feels like Mother Earth is pounding pretty hard in Puerto Rico. But, we're always going to be there. We're going to be your friends. We're going to be your allies. We're going to continue to do whatever we can for all of you. So whether there's real storms, it is political storms that brew - this will be a place, a respite from the storms.

This place, the people, the vision, the mission will always continue. So, I would say feliz cumpleaños, but I think it's aniversario. And I also want to wish many, many more years to come. Thank you very much, everybody. Congratulations.

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