The Port of San Diego is the largest U.S. importer of Dole bananas, which arrive in cargo ships from Ecuador. Some 185 million bananas are received each month at the Port’s Marine Terminal and then shipped by truck and rail to grocery chains on the West Coast. Photo courtesy of the Port of San DiegoSAN DIEGO– The Port of San Diego is looking south as it expands its bustling maritime cargo business.

With free trade agreements approved by the U.S. Congress in 2011 with Colombia and Panama, “We’ve got our eyes on South America,” said Scott Peters, chairman of the board of Port Commissioners. “We have established good relations with South American countries. We’re interested in doing more of that.”

The Port of San Diego is the newest corporate member of the Institute of the Americas, a non-profit organization established 29 years ago on the University of California at San Diego campus. Led by Charles S. Shapiro, who served as U.S. ambassador to Venezuela and the U.S. State Department’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere, the Institute of the Americas organizes conferences, executive roundtables and professional training workshops to help countries in the Western Hemisphere improve promote the economic well-being of people in the Western Hemisphere.

Peters emphasized the importance of working with the Institute of the Americas on this key goal.

“In San Diego, we are a border town,” Peters said. “Our economy is always going to be tied to Latin America.” “Our economy is always going to be tied to Latin America.” Scott Peters, chairman of the Port Commissioners

The Port of San Diego receives regular shipments of fertilizer from Chile, which is then transported to buyers in Phoenix. The Port is also the largest U.S. importer of Dole bananas, which arrive in cargo ships from Ecuador. Some 185 million bananas are received each month at the Port’s 10^th Avenue Marine Terminal and then shipped by truck and rail to grocery chains on the West Coast.

“If you eat a Dole banana in the western United States, it probably came through the Port of San Diego,” Peters said.
During a meeting at the Port of San Diego, Institute of the Americas President Charles S. Shapiro (left) met with Wayne Darbeau, Port of San Diego president and CEO; Sherry White, Institute of the Americas director of development; and Scott Peters, chairman of the board of Port Commissioners. Photo courtesy of the Port of San Diego

In July 2012, Port of San Diego representatives plan a trade mission to South America where they will meet with potential customers in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Chile.

“We’re focusing on what we’ve been doing – increasing fresh fruit imports and fertilizer,” said Peters. “But we’re also working on imports of windmills, some of which would come from South America, as well as solar materials, gas turbines and mining equipment.”

A critical goal for 2012 will be exporting U.S. products to Latin America, he said. While cargo ships arrive at the Port of San Diego loaded with products for the U.S. market, they return home empty.

“We’re trying to shake the tree so that these ships don’t go out empty,” Peters said, noting that President Obama is pushing to double U.S. exports over the next five years, creating 2 million jobs.

The Port of San Diego, a mid-size port which ranks 99^th among 360 U.S. ports, generates 40,000 direct and indirect jobs in the San Diego region. The Port has an economic impact of more than $3 billion annually in the local economy.

Roughly one of every eight cars imported to the U.S. comes through the Port of San Diego. In fiscal year 2011, some 272,000 vehicles – Audis, Volkswagens, Porches, Hyundais, Kias, Mitsubishis, Hondas, Acuras, Bentleys, Lotuses and Lamborghinis -- were imported through the National City Marine Terminal.

“We are seeking to take advantage of the global economy to generate as many jobs as we can.”

“We really play an important role in the local economy,” Peters said. “We are seeking to take advantage of the global economy to generate as many jobs as we can.”

The Port of San Diego also plays a key role in San Diego’s tourism sector. “We have an expensive real estate portfolio that services the tourism industry,” Peters said.

The Port controls most of the land on San Diego Bay, which is home to numerous luxury hotels and restaurants. The Port also operates two cruise ship terminals, which received 209 cruise ships with almost 780,000 passengers in the 2010 fiscal year. Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Carnival are seasonally homeported cruise lines – lines which begin and end their voyage at the Port of San Diego.

The Port of San Diego, a major developer of the waterfront, also operates 17 parks on San Diego Bay and expects to complete its 18^th park in 2012.

The state of California has designated the Port of San Diego as the trustee for all of the tidelands on the bayfront. “We are making sure that this is one of the cleanest industrial bodies of water in the U.S.,” Peters said.

As the Port of San Diego looks to 2012 and beyond, its commissioners hope to capitalize on its strategic position on the Pacific Coast and at the gateway to Latin America.

“We’d love to be a center of international trade,” said Peters, “and we’d love to be the waterfront that people think of when they think of the great waterfronts of the world.”

Become a corporate member of the Institute of the Americas by clicking here