Colombia: Safer, prospering and now, Miami’s No. 2 trade partner

Colombia has emerged as South Florida’s No. 2 trade partner, and this year, should break $10 billion in goods exchanged with Miami for the first time.

In a slow but steady effort, the South American nation also is boosting trade with Panama, Mexico and other neighbors, offering new opportunities for South Florida firms to cash in on that commerce too.

Those were among highlights from WorldCity’s Trade Connections meeting June 21, which focused on business with Colombia one year after the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement took effect.

Panelists marveled at Colombia’s transformation over the past decade, as its government tamed violence, encouraged investment, stoked exports and strengthened links with markets worldwide.

With its economy and middle class expanding, Colombia rose up the ranks from South Florida’s No. 5 trade partner a decade ago to trail only behind giant Brazil, said WorldCity President Ken Roberts.

South Florida now sells Colombia mostly high-tech goods including cellphones, computers and medical devices. And it buys plenty of Colombia’s gold, flowers, clothing and fuel, U.S. trade data shows. Almost all fresh-cut flowers entering the United States come through Miami and largely from Colombian farms.

In the first four months of this year, Miami-Colombia direct trade in goods rose 3 percent from the same period last year to reach $3.2 billion, according to U.S. government data analyzed by WorldCity.

Still, there’s room for improvement , panelists told an audience of more than 75 people.

Bill Fernandez, founder and president of Continental Flowers, says American inspections of flowers is too slow. Photos by Carlos Miller

U.S. authorities take too long to inspect flowers arriving at Miami International Airport, said Bill Fernandez, founder and president of Continental Flowers, which imports hundreds of millions of stems yearly and owns five flower farms in Colombia.

Shipments of the delicate blooms can take 12 to 18 hours to process after landing at Miami airport, Fernandez said. He would like U.S. officials to expand agricultural inspections inside Colombia.

U.S. firms also have bemoaned counterfeiting, “trademark squatting” and other violations of intellectual property in Colombia, a nation of nearly 47 million residents. U.S. authorities now are working with Colombian counterparts to address those woes, partly by training Colombian judges and enforcement agents, said Julie Anglin, desk officer for Colombia and Panama in market access and compliance for the U.S. Commerce Department in Washington, D.C.Julie Anglin of the U.S. Commerce Department in Washington, D.C. says American authorities are working with Colombian judges to crack down on counterfeiting.

Such government cooperation is “already starting to increase the confidence U.S. companies have” in Colombia, helping boost business by U.S. pharmaceutical makers, said Anglin.

The year-old free trade pact also is slashing obstacles for U.S. firms to bid on Colombian government contracts and “really levels the playing field for our companies, ” said Anglin. That’s key, because Colombia plans to invest more than $25 billion in roads, ports, mass-transit and other infrastructure projects this decade, she said.

Yet Colombia’s government could do more to encourage its small and mid-size companies to innovate and export, said Jose Perez Jones, senior vice president of Miami-based shipping line Seaboard Marine. While Colombia’s large companies compete overseas, many smaller producers need a hand. That includes help for farmers to switch from such traditional exports as coffee to broccoli or pineapple.

Colombia has been smart, however, to diversify its trading partners. For example, it’s expanding business with Panama, including Panama’s fast-growing free zone in Colon that handles mainly goods imported through the Canal from Asia. Plus, it’s trading more with Mexico, where new factories are rising fast, said Perez Jones.

Jose Perez Jones, senior vice president of Miami-based shipping line Seaboard Marine, says the Colombian government needs to encourage small and mid-size companies to begin exporting.“The country I see as the next China is Mexico,” Perez Jones said. He referred to the boom in manufacturing exports from Mexico, as China’s wages rise and transport costs from Asia swell with higher fuel prices.

Seaboard has been capitalizing on rising regional trade. It now handles some shipping between Colombia and its Latin American neighbors and not just with South Florida, said Perez Jones.

Continental Flowers also is looking to sell more globally from its farms in Colombia. It’s selling more blooms to the European Union and some to Japan, Russia and South Korea, said Fernandez.

Trade Connections is one of six event series organized by WorldCity to bring together executives on international business topics. The trade series is sponsored by PortMiami, Banesco, Miami-Dade County Aviation, American Airlines Cargo and SeaBoard Marine. The next trade event is set for Aug. 23.