WorldCity Business Magazine

Computer connection

by WC

Computers and computer parts traditionally lead Miami’s export roster. Trade results for the first semester of 2006 show the pattern is holding.

For the first six months of the year, computers and computer parts combined to account for $2.5 billion of the exports from the Miami Customs District or 13 percent of the export total. Exports of computer parts, which gained nearly 35 percent from January through June, held a slight value advantage over those of computers.

Most of those high-tech shipments were processed through Miami International Airport, which saw a 3 percent gain in cargo in the first six months of the year.

Despite the robust showing by computer-related exports, it was another commodity construction equipment that posted the biggest gains. Exports of construction equipment for the first semester were double those of the same period a year before. The construction boom in the Caribbean and in Venezuela, where the government is using oil windfalls to bankroll infrastructure improvements, fueled that growth.

Caribbean tourism destinations are building hotels and other attractions, and key islands are also improving their sports facilities in advance of the 2007 Cricket World Cup games. Some of the construction is also related to rebuilding following the active hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005.

Although construction equipment is moving up the export roster, computers and computer parts are in no danger of being booted from their spots at the top of the list.

Computers are South Florida’s top export to Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Paraguay. They are also the fastest growing export, surging nearly 42 percent in 2005 and up in the first semester of 2006.

Computer parts are the No. 2 export to Brazil and Venezuela, which are Miami’s most important trade partners, as well as to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Venezuela. Computer part exports to Costa Rica leaped in the first months of 2006. A large percentage of those shipments were destined for Intel’s assembly plants in the Central American country.

Technology is an increasingly important part of Costa Rica’s economy. In August, HP opened a second building in Costa Rica, where it employs 3,325 workers the largest HP workforce anywhere in Latin America. The facility will operate principally as a call center and tech support facility. HP has been operating in Costa Rica since 2003.