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You may argue about the so called "gateway of the Americas" statement but its seems like one thing is clear. The general consensus among business leaders in most Latin American nations agree Miami is or should be the "business capital of the the Americas".

Check out this article in this past Friday's Miami Herald http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/2003/04/25/business/5710378.htm


"Latin business capital? Miami

It turns out that the best city for doing business in Latin America is not actually in Latin America.

For the third year in a row, readers of the business magazine AméricaEconomía have selected Miami as the best place to do business in the region.

Santiago, Chile, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, tied as next best, followed by Monterrey, Mexico, and Mexico City. In 2002, Miami shared the first-place ranking with Sao Paulo.

Miami was also top rated as the location that corporate executives would select for headquarters to run their operations in Latin America, over other world cities like New York, Los Angeles and Madrid. That's according to an article in the next issue of the magazine, which is scheduled to hit newsstands in Latin America today.

Miami scored high marks for the security of its airport and the competitiveness of its financial sector, for hosting the best international business events, for its technological innovation and healthcare services and for its level of entertainment.

Executives surveyed apparently also regard the city as the most ''multi-Latin,'' meaning that people from a wide range of Latin American countries reside here.

This latest accolade is music to the ears of the local business community, which has spent money and time trying to promote Miami as the site of a secretariat of a possible Free Trade Area of the Americas, a deal that is supposed to be negotiated by 2005.

''Three years in a row,'' said Hugh Simon, president of Simon International, who has worked on the free-trade platform.

``If you want to do business in Latin America, Miami is really a great place to do it. It's another very solid reason that Miami would be the ideal place for the secretariat.''

The survey was carried out in March among readers of AméricaEconomía, which was founded in 1986. AméricaEconomía Intelligence sent out the poll on the Internet, and 1,600 subscribers responded."