Managing expatriates in a global company brings challenges large and small, from whether to guarantee them a position when they return home to whether to pay for their nanny to join them abroad. At LAN airlines, the company offers tax counseling, relocation services, help with permanent residency visas and many other perks to ease the transition of moving abroad and either staying or returning home, said Debra Hernandez, LAN’s human resources director for North America. Hernandez led the discussion on expatriate issues at the July 16 meeting of HR Connections… Read More
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WorldCity President Ken Roberts
Miami off to fast 2010 start, with record trade
Miami trade with the world set a new record in the first month of the year, according to WorldCity analysis of the latest U.S. Census data, one of two Customs districts among the nation’s Top 15 and only one of three in the Top 25 to do so.
Six of South Florida’s Top 10 trade partners set new records for total trade in January, with the biggest gains captured by No. 5 Switzerland and No. 7 Costa Rica.
South Florida’s total trade increased 14.74 percent over the January 2009 total, to $7.06 billion, and almost 7 percent over the previous record, set in January of 2008, before the global recession sunk its teeth into not only Miami but Customs districts across the nation.
Through the first month of the year, the Miami Customs district, which is led by the Ports of Miami and Everglades as well as Miami International Airport but also includes the Port of Palm Beach and the Miami River, ranked No. 11 in the nation, where it finished 2009. The No. 11 ranking was the strongest annual finish for South Florida in years.
In January, South Florida exports jumped 9.29 percent to 4.32 billion, a record. Seven of the Top 10 trade partners recorded record exports from Miami, with the strongest growth in Switzerland and Chile. South Florida imports jumped a more impressive 24.51 percent to a record $2.75 billion. The biggest gains came in imports from Colombia, China, Costa Rica and Mexico.
The fast growth in imports led to South Florida’s trade surplus slipping from a record $1.74 billion in January 2009 to the second-highest total on record, $1.57 billion. South Florida is one of the few Customs districts in the nation with a regular trade surplus, which is due to its role as a supplier of a wide range of high-technology products and other goods to Latin America and the Caribbean.
The other two Customs districts to set records in January among the Top 25 are No. 15 El Paso, Texas, which is largely a conduit for U.S.-Mexico trade and No. 22 San Juan, Puerto Rico, which is a large exporter in the pharmaceutical industry.
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