Miami-Dade Ranks First in International Trade Promotion
A comprehensive study of how major American cities promote their international trade industry has determined that Miami-Dade ranks at the top in how it focuses on and brands this vital economic sector. No other metropolitan area has an agency fully devoted to the promotion of international trade and as a result their efforts in this area are deemed not as effective as the ITC. The report, "International Trade Promotion Among Major American Cities", was conducted by Florida International University under the authorship of Dr. Jerry Haar, Associate Dean for International Affairs and professor of management and international business. Commissioned by ITC in order to gauge its effectiveness vis-à-vis other important trading centers in the U.S., the study investigated the plans, structure, and operations of Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Miami-Dade, Philadelphia and Seattle. The report was finished in March. Some of the key findings of the report are:

• Miami-Dade possesses the best-developed trade promotion authority fully dedicated to the promotion of international trade.
  
  
• Public-private partnership and cooperation is essential for the success of this mission.
  
  
• The objectives of the agency must be clearly defined.
  
  
• Trade promotion agencies should avoid overlap and duplication with other private and public entities.
  
  
• A narrow agenda that is well focused is better than a broad agenda that tries to accomplished diverse goals.
  
  
• The environment for competition among U.S. cities will intensify. ITC Chair Commissioner Natacha Seijas said, "I am not surprised by the findings of this report, because the ITC is an agency that takes the name and the brand of Miami-Dade as a Global Gateway around the world several times a year. And still, this is not the time to be complacent. As the report points out, competition for trade will intensify, particularly in this difficult economic environment. I am confident that the ITC is equal to the task at hand." The reason the ITC commissioned the study was to determine how the competition is approaching the trade promotion task, said ITC Executive Director Tony Ojeda. "These are the cities that most directly either compete with us or resemble our trade profile and we wanted to know how they are doing it," said Ojeda. "I am glad to know that we have the best trade promotion agency, but that does not mean we can let up on our efforts. It actually encourages us to push forward even harder in taking the Miami-Dade flag to every important trade center in the world." And the study clearly indicated that the hunger for a piece of the international trade pie is increasing across the U.S. According to the study, "Cities vary widely in their competitive advantages, not only across states, but even within states. Additionally, possessing a seaport no longer assures a sustainable competitive advantage in trade. In recent years, inland cities such as Orlando, Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Kansas City have dramatically increased their trade promotion efforts." The study found four basic models of organization for trade promotion in the cities studied.
  
  
• Liaison-facilitation. Operating within the mayor's office, the primary functions of international trade promotion center on information dissemination, protocol, and Sister Cities programs. Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Houston have this model.
  
  
• Full-service, trade development. While including liaison-facilitation, this model also includes trade promotion, investment promotion and it operates as a private-public partnership. Seattle's Trade Development Alliance is an example.
  
  
• Full-service, trade and economic development. This model is very similar to the previous one, but it also encompasses domestic economic development as well and it deals with many economic development issues locally. This is financed and operated by the private sector in coordination with local government. The Greater Houston Partnership follows this model.
  
  
• Single-purpose trade promotion agency. The exclusive focus of this model is trade promotion, both imports and exports. While in some cases Sister Cities is part of the agency and liaison is also involved, the single most important role is trade promotion. Miami-Dade's ITC is an example of a public agency, and Atlanta's CIFAL of a private agency. The study pointed out that trade promotion is rarely the exclusive domain of one entity in any metropolitan area, and often combinations of models exists as well as parallel organizations in the private and public sectors that usually try to coordinate their efforts.

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