Global Miami-Dade Trade Alerts

May

Sister Cities Water Management Webinar:
Cape Town and Miami-Dade Building a More Sustianable Future 

On May 21, Miami-Dade County and the city of Cape Town held a virtual Sister Cities event to exchange their best practices on city water resilience. The Cape Town Office of the Executive Mayor and Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department identified how to improve existing strategies to help build a more sustainable future.

Bicameral International Alliance:
Virtual Signing of MOU between Miami-Dade County, AACC, & UIPBA

On May 19, the office of International Trade Consortium participated in “Bicameral International Alliance”, an online event with the Argentine American Chamber of Commerce of Florida (AACC) and the Union of Industrial of the Province of Buenos Aires (UIPBA). Miami-Dade, UIPBA, and AACC virtually signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen commercial ties and expand bilateral collaborations between Argentina and Miami-Dade County.

Miami-Dade County welcomes new Director General of TECO Miami
On May 11, ITC Director Jonathan Ward met with the newly appointed Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami, Amino Chi. We look forward to working together to continue promoting trade and investment between the County and Taiwan.

Miami-Dade County celebrates Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
On May 11, ITC Director Jonathan Ward met with the newly appointed Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami, Amino Chi. We look forward to working together to continue promoting trade and investment between thOn May 7, we helped kick off Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with live music, dance, and art performances the lobby of the Stephen P. Clark Center. The annual ceremony began with welcome remarks from Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Commissioner Eileen Higgins and several diplomats and trade directors were in attendance.e County and Taiwan.

Canada seeks business opportunities in Miami-Dade County
On May 6, Executive Director Jonatan Ward had the pleasure of meeting with Ontario Agent-General Jag Badwal to discuss ways to increase commercial and cultural ties between our County and Ontario. We are looking forward to more virtual trade missions from Ontario.

Chairman Jose "Pepe" Diaz presents proclamation to World Trade Center Miami
On May 6, Chairman Diaz presented a proclamation to World Trade Center Miami in recognition of Miami World Trade Month. For 28 years, World Trade Center Miami has been the host and organizer of this month long celebration which has helped shaped Miami-Dade County's vital role in international business and trade.

April 

Official Delegation of Colombia visits Miami-Dade County
On April 30, Chairman Diaz welcomed President of the Comision Segunda de la Camara de Representantes, Juan David Vélez, and Vice President of Cámara de Representantes Colombia, Astrid Sánchez Montes De Oca, and over twenty members of Colombia's Congress our Miami-Dade County Commission Chambers to discuss the strengthening of ties between Miami-Dade County and Colombia.

ITC holds first Board Meeting of 2021
On April 29, we welcomed back our ITC board members and introduced the newly appointed members at the first in-person meeting held on the 18th floor of the Stephen P. Clark Center. Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz shared his vision for the ITC.

In addition, the Thai Trade Center Miami and Siam Bistro Miami provided packaged food and beverage items for the meeting. Thanks to our board member Preeya Disyanan and Joshua Ho of our County's Asian American Advisory Board for making this happen!

Chairman Diaz meets with Consul General of Mexico
On April 28, Chairman Diaz and Executive Director Ward met with Consul General of Mexico, Jonathan Chait, to discuss bilateral trade and tourism.

Sister Cities Working Together Webinar: 
Pereira and Miami-Dade as a Market Destination
As part of a sister city initiative between Pereira and Miami-Dade, the ITC in close collaboration with the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB), ProColombia, Pereira Convention Bureau, Miami-Dade Aviation Department, American Airlines and the Colombian American Chamber of Commerce organized a two-day market destination event on April 14th and 15th to promote each other’s destination.

Over 200 people including travel agents and wholesalers received an overview of the respective markets and were updated on the recently established air route service between Miami and Pereira by American Airlines.

ITC’s Board member Olga Ramudo noted that the promotion of tourism was included in the Sister City agreement with Pereira which was signed in 2002. Ms. Ramudo thanked all the agencies involved for their support and extended an invitation to all participants to attend the World Travel Expo Conference scheduled to take place in Miami on May 3rd-5th, 2022.

Bangladesh announces plans to open Consulate General in Miami-Dade County
In the beginning of April, M Shahidul Islam, Ambassador of Bangladesh to the United States, visited South Florida. On April 5, the Bangladesh Association of Florida hosted a dinner in his honor, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Bangladeshi independence. At the event, Ambassador Islam announced Bangladesh will soon open a Consulate General in Miami-Dade County.

We met with the Ambassador to discuss trade and investment and the formation of the U.S.-Bangladesh Business Council in Washington, DC.

March

Official Delegation from El Salvador visits Miami-Dade County
On March 29, the World Trade Center Miami and The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, with support from ITC Assistant Director Maria Dreyfus, hosted a trade and investment event for Milena Mayorga, Ambassador of the Republic of El Salvador to the United States at the World Trade Center Miami. Consul General of El Salvador Eduardo Umaña also attended the event.

More than 50 business leaders participated in the "Business Opportunities in El Salvador" event in-person and virtually, including ITC board members Joe Chi and Alejandra Collarte.

In addition, Frontier Airlines will inaugurate a new flight between El Salvador and Miami later this month.

Miami-Dade County welcomes Ambassador of Uruguay
On March 29, Ambassador of Uruguay to the United States, Andrés Duran, and Consul General of El Salvador in Miami, Dr. Eduardo Bouzout Vignoil, met with Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniela Levine Cava. Ambassador Duran expressed interest in strengthening the commercial and cultural ties between Miami-Dade and Uruguay, including the revitalization of our Sister City relationship with Maldonado, Uruguay.

On March 30, ITC Executive Director Ward and the Chief of Staff to Chairman Diaz, Isidoro Lopez, met with Ambassador Duran to discuss increasing trade and investment between #OurCounty and Uruguay.

ITC board member Richard de Villiers, PortMiami Assistant Director, and Ernesto Rodriguez, Chief of Miami-Dade Aviation, briefed the Ambassador on logistics linkages between #OurCounty and Uruguay, including new Eastern Airlines direct air service.

Ambassador Duran invited Mayor Cava and Miami-Dade County officials to join in on a trade delegation in Uruguay later this year.

Miami-Dade County Commission honors TECO Director General David Chien
On March 12, Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz was joined by colleagues from the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners, the Asian American Advisory Board and the ITC to honor the Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Miami, David K.C. Chien. The Chairman presented Director General Chien a key to the County and a Certificate of Appreciation for his contribution towards strengthening ties between Taiwan and Miami-Dade County. We congratulate him for his new role as Taiwan's Ambassador to Belize!

February 

Sister Cities Working Together Connecting Czech Tech & Miami-Dade County
On February 23, we held a virtual bilateral investment event focused on technology with our Sister City, Prague, Czech Republic. The Beacon Council and CzechInvest provided presentations to tech companies from Prague and #OurCounty highlighting opportunities for tech investment in the two Sister Cities.

Sierra Leone seeks business opportunities in Miami-Dade County
On February 16, we met with the Consul General of the Republic of Sierra Leone in his office to discuss opportunities to expand bilateral trade and investment. Sierra Leone was the first African country to open a Consulate General in Miami-Dade County.

January

Miami-Dade County featured in Turkish Newspaper
On January 7, Miami-Dade Aviation Manager of Trade & Logistics Emir Pineda and PortMiami Director of Global Trade and Business Eric Olafson briefed Turkish journalist Kenan Sertalp on logistics linkages with Turkey. Mr. Sertalo shared his reporting in EKOMETRE, a leading Turkish business journal, highlighting the rapidly expanding trade between Turkey and Miami-Dade County.

August

Miami-Dade County receives 20,000 Mask Donation
On August 3, 2020, Board of County Commission Chairwoman and ITC Chair, Audrey M. Edmonson received a generous donation of 20,000 medical grade masks under the direction of David K.S. Chien, Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami. Miami-Dade County continues to promote citizen diplomacy, international cultural understanding and developing local projects that foster interest in world affairs as exhibited by the County's Sister City relationship with Taipei County, Taiwan.