Mayor Victor Treviño, chair of the Laredo-Webb County Metropolitan Planning Organization, opened the Texas MPO Association’s annual meeting in Laredo with a summary of the city’s role in U.S.–Mexico trade and recent local projects.

“Laredo has been in the bridge business since the 1880s,” Treviño said, citing the city’s long history as a border trade hub. He noted Laredo is the Western Hemisphere’s top port of entry by value and said the port currently handles about $339 billion in trade annually and roughly 20,000 trucks per day. He told the meeting the MPO must “act locally but think globally” to match planning models with rapid growth.

City economic development director Miriam Castillo showed a short video and reviewed recent and current industrial and real‑estate investments in the Laredo metro area, saying the metro population totals roughly 300,000 and combined with Nuevo Laredo reaches about 800,000. Castillo highlighted large private and public projects that have been completed or are under construction, including a $50 million distribution facility, a $100 million distribution center project, and other industrial developments that together have added tens of millions in investment and expanded cold-storage and warehousing capacity.

Castillo said the port’s top commodity by value is motor vehicle parts and that electronic storage battery shipments have increased markedly since 2016. She described the local economic development department’s role in coordinating workforce development, business support and site planning related to port and industrial growth.

Meeting attendees asked whether recent warehouse construction along I‑35 was included in Castillo’s figures; she said the newest construction was not yet included in the 50 million square‑foot inventory number she cited but that it is part of near‑term projections. Castillo also cited an August TxDOT estimate saying roughly 75% of every dollar in U.S.–Mexico trade crosses at a Texas port of entry.

The presentation was given as a welcome to visiting MPO directors and to highlight how port expansion is shaping regional transportation needs; Laredo MPO staff and the mayor asked regional planners to factor that growth into freight, highway and bridge planning in coming years.

Mayor Treviño and Castillo’s remarks were part of opening remarks and a short economic briefing during the meeting’s welcome session.