TRADE MIAMI DADE JUNE 2018

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR Welcome to Trade Miami-Dade, the newsletter highlighting the activities of the  International Trade Consortium (ITC) Board of Directors and the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) of Miami-Dade County. As the Chair of the ITC, I have the responsibility of engaging our local partners and making new commercial connections around the world. The advantages of using Miami-Dade County and its superb international trade resources for moving product to and from anywhere in the world are formidable. Our message is clear: come trade with us, and together we can make Miami-Dade prosper. We hope you enjoy Trade Miami-Dade, and that you will join us in promoting Miami-Dade County as the Global Gateway .

International Trade Consortium Chair, Commissioner Jose “Pepe" Diaz.

MAYOR GIMENEZ, ITC CHAIR DIAZ AND VICE CHAIR EDMONSON, COMMISSIONERS JORDAN AND MONESTIME  LEAD DELEGATION TO CHINA, JAPAN

Fifty-one delegates participated in the Business Development Mission to China and Japan, which took place March 17-27, 2018. The group, which was among the largest delegations from Miami-Dade County to travel abroad, was led by Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez, ITC Chair Jose “Pepe” Diaz and Vice Chairwoman Audrey M. Edmonson, Commissioners Barbara Jordan and Jean Monestime and Deputy Mayor Edward Marquez. It included 19 private-sector delegates in addition to directors of County departments and high-level representatives from economic-development organizations and educational institutions. The purpose of the mission was to promote Miami-Dade County as a global gateway by strengthening international trade, investment and tourism with China and Japan, and to develop new commercial opportunities for the business participants. Other mission objectives included recruiting direct air service to Miami International Airport from the region and evaluating next-generation mass transit equipment and strategies.

VEGETABLE EXPORTERS FROM DOMINICAN REPUBLIC VISIT MIAMI-DADE A delegation of producers and exporters of fruits and vegetables from the Dominican Republic visited Miami-Dade from January 21-23, 2018. Their objective was to learn and explore business opportunities in Miami-Dade and the U.S. market. The Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) organized the visit in response to a request from International Executive Services Corps (IESC), a Dominican non-profit organization executing an Export Quality Program financed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Representatives from the Dominican Republic, such as IESC and ProDominicana, the export promotion agency of the Dominican Republic, joined the delegation. During their first day, the group was briefed by Eric Olafson from PortMiami, Ernesto Rodriguez from Miami International Airport, and ITC board member Lenny Feldman from Sandler, Travis and Rosenberg, who spoke about the Food Safety Modernization Act. The delegation also visited a Sedano’s supermarket, where they were greeted and briefed by store manager Pedro Mesa, who discussed Sedano’s perishables purchasing process and the various trends in the market. The following day, Nilsy Delgado from IESC and Lisette Elias and Emmanuel Guzman from ProDominicana made a presentation to local businesses and stakeholders about business opportunities in the Dominican Republic. A networking event followed the presentation.

U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION COMMITTEE HOSTS QARTERLY MEETING FOR FIRST TIME IN MIAMI I n February, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) held their quarterly meeting in Miami. ITC Chair Diaz hosted a tour of the Miami River on February 28, 2018, and briefed the delegation on the importance of trade for this community. ITC board members Lenny Feldman, also a member of the COAC, and Richard de Villiers from PortMiami talked to the group about Miami and the Port. Barbara Pimentel, with Florida Customs Brokers & Forwarders; Liane Ventura from the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce; and Eduardo Torres from the U.S. Commercial Service welcomed and networked with the group.

DEPUTY MAYOR JACK OSTERHOLT GREETS INVEST ECUADOR SEMINAR On March 15, 2018, Deputy Mayor Jack Osterholt addressed the Invest Ecuador seminar, which was organized and hosted by the Ecuadorian Exports and Investment Promotion Institute (Pro Ecuador), and attended by the Ecuadorian Ambassador to the U.S. Francisco Carrion and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Pablo Campana. The purpose of the seminar was to highlight trade and business opportunities between Ecuador and Miami-Dade County to local companies. During his remarks, the Deputy Mayor discussed the strong trading relations currently enjoyed by Ecuador and Miami-Dade, and noted Miami’s unique advantages in infrastructure and geography for growing trade with Ecuador. He also presented Minister Campana with a Distinguished Visitors Certificate.

COMMISSIONER SALLY A. HEYMAN HOSTS DISTRICT 4  GOING GLOBAL  WORKSHOP The eighth Going Global import/export workshops was held in District 4 and hosted by Commissioner Sally A. Heyman on April 17, 2018, at the Northeast Branch Library in Aventura. Those in attendance learned about getting export/import ready, strategies for global expansion, regulations and common mistakes to avoid, and obtaining different types of trade financing. Commissioner Heyman stressed the importance of international trade and its benefits to our local economy. Since the beginning of the workshop series last year, more than 300 attendees of diverse backgrounds have gained practical resources from a broad group of industry experts.

EXTREMADURA AVANTE TRADE OFFICE OPENS IN MIAMI A delegation from Extremadura, Spain, visited Miami-Dade from April 21 - 26, 2018. The visit was led by Rosa Balas, director general of external affairs for the Extremadura regional government; Segundo Piriz, president of Universidad of Extremadura; and Jose Matias Sanchez, subdirector general of Extremadura Avante, the regional economic development organization. The objective of the visit was to establish commercial, economic and institutional ties between Extremadura and Florida. One of the outcomes of the visit was the April 25 inauguration of the Extremadura Avante office in Miami. Manny Gonzalez and Maria Dreyfus-Ulvert met with the delegation and presented a Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of the Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners.

DELEGATION FROM HAINAN PROVINCE, CHINA, VISITS MIAMI-DADE An official delegation of 25 young government officials from China’s Hainan Province visited Miami-Dade from May 6 - 26, 2018. The objective of the visit was to strengthen ties between Hainan and Miami-Dade County and to learn best practices and explore possible collaboration in the areas of trade and tourism. ITC Chair Diaz welcomed the Chinese delegation at Miami International Airport (MIA) on May 7 and recalled ITC’s recent trip to China, which aimed to build a strong relationship between the region and China. Chair Diaz also expressed our interest in having a direct air route service to China. ITC board member and airport representative Chris Mangos briefed the delegation about MIA’s role as a regional hub and indicated that the airport has been working with Hainan Airlines to have them serve MIA. The officials met with Rolando Aedo and Gisela Marti from GMCVB, who gave an overview on tourism and supported MIA’s position on the need to establish a direct air route service with China. The delegation also visited Miami-Dade County’s Emergency Operations Center to learn about disaster coordination. Professor Zhao, from FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, hosted the group and thanked OEDIT staff for their support. He stated: “On behalf of the delegation, I want to express great appreciation! They learned a lot from the site visits!” As a follow-up to this visit, a high-level government delegation led by the Governor of the Hainan Province is expected later this year.

AMBASSADOR OF QATAR VISITS MIAMI TO DEVELOP COMMERCIAL RELATIONS Qatari Ambassador to the U.S. Meshal Bin Hamad Al-Thani visited Miami from May 10 - 11, 2018, seeking to learn and identify business opportunities for Qatar. Ambassador Al-Thani met with Mayor Gimenez and the following Miami-Dade County department directors: Alice Bravo, Department of Transportation and Public Works; Juan Kuryla, PortMiami; Lester Sola, Miami-Dade Aviation Department; and Kevin Lynskey, Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department. In addition, Ambassador Al-Thani met with William Talbert, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB), who gave him an overview of the business opportunities in the tourism sector. Ambassador Al-Thani also met with members of the Global Trade and Logistics Accelerator .

VICE MAYOR OF ALHAURIN DE LA TORRE, MALAGA, SPAIN, SEEKS CLOSER TIES WITH MIAMI-DADE COUNTY On May 15, 2018. OEDIT Chief Manny Gonzalez and Senior Trade Specialist Maria Dreyfus-Ulvert welcomed Vice Mayor Mario Perez Cantero from Alhaurin de la Torre, Malaga, Spain. During the meeting, Vice Mayor Cantero expressed interest in strengthening ties with Miami-Dade County and discussed business opportunities in Malaga. Vice Mayor Cantero was accompanied by ITC board member Dr. Dennis Rod and Jesus Lopez, CEO of Miami Arts Consulting.

MEXICAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANIES SEEK OPPORTUNITIES IN MIAMI-DADE An inbound delegation from Mexico visited Miami-Dade County from May 15 - 17 , 2018. The objective of the visit was to explore business opportunities in the perishable food sector between Mexico and South Florida, using Miami as an entry port to the United States and transshipment into Latin America. Mexico is South Florida’s 13th-largest trading partner with total trade of $2.5 billion dollars.  Lucia Aguilar, deputy trade and investment commissioner of ProMexico, the Mexican government trade promotion agency, and OEDIT’s Maria Dreyfus-Ulvert organized a three-day agenda to give the Mexican companies an overview of the business opportunities and shipping options through Miami-Dade. During their visit, the delegation met with Ernie Rodriguez from the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, Sebastian Arcos from PortMiami, Vicente Meneses from HPL Apollo Perishable Logistics and Ricardo Carbonell from Sedano’s Supermarket. The delegation also participated in World Trade Center Miami’s trade month seminar on Refrigerated Transportation Best Practices and Food Safety and Modernization Act.  On May 15, the City of Doral welcomed the delegation and hosted pre-arranged business-to-business meetings. The six companies from Mexico met with their commercial counterparts from South Florida, who were interested in sourcing Persian limes, avocado and guacamole, vanilla extract and beans, drink concentrates (horchata, tamarind and hibiscus), seeds and leaves from the Ramon tree and fresh and frozen pulp. ProMexico reported 46 business-to-business meetings were held with 17 local companies. Ms. Aguilar from ProMexico said, “The companies that visited Miami were satisfied with the outcome of the meetings, and all the visits we made allowed them to learn more about Florida and the market this region could represent for them. This success would not have been possible without your support.”