Finding opportunities for Florida/International Trade

Trade Numbers

• $132 billion — Value of international trade through Florida’s airports and seaports
• $97 billion — Value of Florida-origin exports from the state: $66 billion in goods, $31 billion in services
• 60,000 — Number of exporting companies
• $11 billion — Increase in value of goods exported by Florida companies from 2010 to 2012
• 15 — Ports
• 19 — Commercial service airports
• 512,000 — Jobs in the transportation, trade and logistics sector — paying 30% more than the statewide average Source: Florida Trade and Logistics Study 2.0

INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

ARGENTINA — Argentine art dealer Daniel Maman will open his first U.S. gallery, Maman Gallery, in Miami’s Design District.

CUBA — Tampa International Airport became only the second U.S. city (besides Miami) to offer direct flights to three Cuban cities when ABC Charters added flights to Santa Clara’s Abel Santamaria Airport to its existing flights to Havana and Holguin. >> The Cuban government announced that it plans to end the two-tier currency system that has been in place since 1994. The system divided the nation’s currency into the convertible peso, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar and used for tourist and foreign-trade transactions, and the national peso, which most Cubans use. The convertible peso is the only currency most stores and restaurants accept. It is worth 25 times more than the national peso but is accessible almost exclusively to Cubans with official ties or those in the tourist industry who receive tips.

GUINEA — Leone Asset Management, based in Panama City Beach, purchased Guinea Investment Bank of Guinea in West Africa. The company will change the bank’s name to JP Anderson to continue the branding and expansion of Leone Asset’s subsidiary JP Anderson in West Africa.

ITALY — West Palm Beachbased sugar refiner and marketer ASR Group purchased 50% of Italybased SFIR Raffineria di Brindisi, Europe’s secondlargest sugar cane refinery, from ED&F Man. It also purchased half of Euro SFIR Italia, which sells sugar from the refinery in Italy. ASR is owned by Florida Crystals and Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida.

LATIN AMERICA — Technology conference eMerge Americas, which will be held in May in Miami Beach, will host the region’s top technology incubators and accelerators for a Demo Day Challenge. Participants will include NXTP Labs from Argentina, 21212 from Brazil, Startup Chile, INNpulsa and HubBog from Colombia and Angel Ventures of Mexico.

MEXICO — Miami Lakesbased ERBA Diagnostics, which develops and sells invitro diagnostics equipment, opened a subsidiary in Mexico City, where it anticipates that the market for diagnostics will grow at about 15% per year.

QATAR — Qatar Airways will begin four weekly nonstop flights between Miami International Airport and Doha, Qatar, in June. The airline serves only five other cities in the U.S. — none of them in the southeastern part of the country.

Education

IE University, one of Spain’s most highly regarded business schools, plans to launch an advanced management executive education program in Miami this year. The for-profit school will conduct the program in both Spanish and English.

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