February 5, 2007
Deerfield Beach
firm planning Buenos Aires
Technology Park
By: Doreen Hemlock, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Feb. 5 - Add a Deerfield Beach-based investment company to the list of businesses entering the high-tech field in
Argentina.
Taurus Investment Holdings LLC announced plans to develop a technology park near the capital city of
Buenos Aires, working with
Argentina 's private
Austral
University.
TIH, as the investment group is known, said it expects to invest an initial $15 million in park basics and four buildings, each of 30,000 square feet. Tenants expected in the park include software, communications, chemical and pharmaceutical companies.
In all, TIH expects to pump $100 million into the park.
The investment comes amid a surge in high-tech business in
Argentina
, as companies tap the country's educated work force at relatively low costs.
Companies as diverse as U.S.-based software giant Microsoft, computer chip maker Intel and entertainment titan Disney have been expanding in the South American nation since its financial crisis in 2001 and currency devaluation in 2002 cut prices to below half their 1990s levels.
The high-tech growth includes call centers, back-office operations such as data processing, plus more sophisticated software development.
A recent study estimated 33,000 agents at Argentine call centers in late 2006, up four-fold from 2001 levels. And that number should rise at least 30 percent more this year to reach 42,000 call-center agents, said the report by Coral Gables-based researcher Zagada Markets Inc.
High-tech companies like
Argentina
's long-standing and quality university system, which graduates ample numbers of engineers and computer specialists, plus many professionals bilingual in Spanish and English. They also like the country's low-cost telecommunication services, plus training programs and other business incentives offered in such major cities as
Buenos Aires,
Cordoba and
Rosario, said Zagada's chief executive, Philip Dickenson Peters.
The Taurus group investing in
Argentina 's tech park started in
Germany
in 1976 and expanded to South Florida
in 1979. The company said it has bought, sold and operated more than 20 million square feet of real estate in the Americas
and Europe since its inception.
Companies
Jacksonville-based Crowley Maritime Corp. said its shipping line is adding a third container vessel to sail once a week from Port Everglades to St. Thomas
in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The ship will connect with feeder service to other islands east of St. Thomas.
Financial giant Visa International said its Latin American and Caribbean
division surpassed $100 billion in annual point-of-sale volume for the first time. Volume for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 reached $102 billion, up 35 percent from the previous year, said the Miami-based division.
Growth came largely in
Brazil, which represents nearly half of all sales in the Latin and Caribbean
region, Visa said.
Events
The Florida International Bankers Association will hold its annual Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Conference from Feb. 12-14 at the Radisson Hotel in Miami. For information, see www.antimoneylaundering-fiba.com.
The American Association of Port Authorities will hold its annual seminar on port administration and legal issues at the Marriott Biscayne Bay Hotel in downtown Miami
from Feb. 12-14. Topics include port-tenant relations, human resources and seaport security, among others.
For information, call the association's Ed O'Connell at 703-684-5700 or check www.aapa-ports.org.
Doreen Hemlock can be reached at dhemlock@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5009.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida
Sun-Sentinel
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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