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Florida has the capacity to create "hundreds of thousands" of new jobs through expanded international trade over the next five to seven years, economists said Wednesday.
With 1.3 million jobs in the state already depending on international business, "Florida has emerged as a major player in high-tech exports," said Manuel Mencia, senior vice president for international trade and business development at Enterprise Florida. "With 48,000 companies, we have the second highest concentration of firms involved in international trade."
Florida Chamber of Commerce President Mark Wilson agreed that the state's growth potential is inextricably tied to the global economy.
"Our economy is changing and we're never going back," he said during a chamber-sponsored teleconference with reporters.
While tourism, agriculture and construction still anchor Florida's economy, international trade is a "bright spot" to lead the state out of recession, economists said.
The state's high-tech exports, for example, jumped 81 percent between 2003-2008, compared with a 27 percent increase nationally. Top categories in the sector include aviation/aerospace, information technology, data processing and medical/surgical, totaling some $30 billion.
Noting that one in six Florida jobs is related to international business, Tony Villamil, principal economic adviser at the Washington Economics Group in Miami, said the state has the capacity to expand faster by building on its ties with Brazil and other South American markets.
Villamil also called on Congress to ratify trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, which he labeled "key trade partners."
With the widening of the Panama Canal, China also looms as a crucial player, he added.
If Florida is to double its international export business from the 2009 level of $103 billion (not counting services), the economists said Tallahassee and Washington will need to chip in with transportation improvements, small-business grants and more "multicultural" education.
Also needed: defraying the ever-rising costs of security and streamlining banking regulations.
"As Florida transitions from a low-cost to higher-cost state, international trade can provide explosive and sustainable economic growth," Wilson said.
"As the 20th largest economy in the world, we are perfectly positioned geographically ... to generate jobs and tax revenue and to secure a place in the global competition."
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 559-4719.
