Gov. Rick Scott is once again making travel plans. This time thedestination is Spain, Florida s 34th largest trading partner. The excursion would mix business development with possible touristdevelopment tied to the pending quincentennial of Spanish explorerJuan Ponce de Leon y Figueroa s first expedition to Florida.
A spokeswoman for the governor s office called the planspreliminary and deferred comment to Enterprise Florida. Manny Mencia, Enterprise Florida 's senior vice president of international business development,said the group is still exploring the viability of doing themission in the first half of the year. We don t have confirmed dates and we re evaluatingopportunities, Mencia said. Madrid would be the primary destination, he said.
Also, instead of being labeled a trade mission, the trip is beingscouted as a business development mission that would focus oninvestment and other business objectives, he said. Spain, while relatively a good market for trade, isprincipally a foreign investment source, Mencia said. There are already an estimated 400 Spain-based companies working inFlorida, which has one of the largest concentration of Spanishexpatriates in the United States, he said. The other key objective is the 500 celebration, Mencia said.
Promoting Florida and the 500 (anniversary) celebration andSpanish heritage will also have a potential tourism impact. While the peninsula has been inhabited for more than 12,000 years,according to Florida documents, the anniversary marks a new era inhuman history that saw many nationalities come together as thefoundation that eventually formed the United States of America, the Florida Department of State posts on its Viva Florida 500 site. The w ebsite is being used to plan Florida s 500th anniversary. In April 1513, Ponce de Leon landed his small fleet nearpresent-day St.
Augustine, claiming the land for Spain. He dubbedthe land "la Florida or place of flowers. St. Augustine, North America's oldest continuously inhabitedsettlement, wouldn't be founded for another 52 years.
De Leon would also get credit for naming Cape Canaveral Cape ofCurrents, and the Dry Tortugas on the voyage, which ended afterthe explorers encountered unfriendly natives in the area ofpresent-day Charlotte Harbor. For Scott, this would be his fifth international mission sincetaking office a year ago. Mencia, who has helped scout out the other trips, said the officehasn t received additional travel proposals from the governor soffice for the year. Scott headed four trade missions last year, each with EnterpriseFlorida, visiting Panama in March, Canada in June, Brazil, inOctober and Israel in December. Brazil is Florida s largest trading partner, at $15.5 billion ayear.
Panama stands 20th and Canada is 31st, according toEnterprise Florida. At $793.6 million a year in trade, Spain is wedged between Taiwanand Jamaica on the list of trading partners. Among Florida s top exports to Spain are medical supplies, cars, aircraft and aircraft parts,and yachts and other vessels. The top imports from Spain include non-crude oil, ceramics, wine and olive oil. Reach Jim Turner at or at (772) 215-9889. I am an expert from Industrial Fuel, usually analyzes all kind of industries situation, such as drum stick holders , infrared heat therapy.
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