GLOBAL INTEGRATION
Through diverse partnerships with several international cities and regions, Orange County has transformed into a global hub for tourism, healthcare, education, and technology.
SISTER CITIES
Orange County has sister city relationships with five international partner cities and regions around the world. The relationship becomes official with a signing ceremony among the top-elected officials of the two local jurisdictions.
Orange County’s Sister Cities include Las Heras, Argentina; Quindío, Colombia; Hart van Brabant, Netherlands; Medellín, Colombia; Taizhou, China.
Las Heras
Quindío
North Brabant
Las Heras is a city in the province of Mendoza, Argentina, located north of the metropolitan area of the provincial capital. This is longest lasting sister city agreement that Orange County maintains. Established in 2001, both regions have continued to explore and develop exchange programs in the key industries they share.
- Date of agreement: July 1, 2001
- Key industries in Sister City: Transportation, clean tech, manufacturing, medical, technology, and tourism.
quindío is a department of colombia. it is in the western central region of the country, crossed by the andes mountain and its capital is armenia.
quindío mirrors orange county as they both have a well-developed tourism infrastructure that attracts both domestic and international visitors. additionally, the region of quindío seeks to become a software development hub by fostering the creation of business incubators, a concept that orange county has successfully mastered. the sister cities agreement will facilitate an exchange of the best practices between both regions.
- date of agreement: august 22, 2012
- key industries in sister city: tourism, automotive, agri-business, cosmetics and toiletries, and technology and services outsourcing.
north brabant is a south central mainland province of the netherlands.
orange county and the region of hart van brabant have diverse commonalities as they share the same key industries and objectives of attracting investment, cultivating innovation and promoting collaboration between education institutions. this sister city agreement has already enabled alliances between higher education institutions in orange county and in the city of tilburg.
- date of agreement: november 13, 2012
- key industries in sister city: tourism, healthcare, life sciences, aerospace, and higher education.
officially the municipio de medellín, is the second-largest city in colombia. similar to orange county, medellín’s economy heavily relies on the tourism industry. medellín is attractive to entrepreneurs and large corporations due to the region’s strides to become the innovation hub of south america. like medellin, orange county continues to be a seedbed for innovation and entrepreneurship allowing the region to diversify its economy. this sister cities agreement will foster opportunities for both regions to exchange best practices in their goal to becoming an innovation hub.
- date of agreement: november 13, 2012
- key industries in sister city: services outsourcing, software and it, tourism, and manufacturing.
taizhou is an emerging city along the eastern coast of zhejiang province. taizhou and orange county share similar key industries such as technology, tourism, life science and healthcare. this agreement focuses on healthcare as taizhou is recognized as china's medical city. this agreement will offer a vast amount of educational opportunities between medical research organizations and hospitals in orange county and similar institutions in taizhou.
- Date of agreement: January 16, 2013
- Key industries in sister city: Transportation, clean tech, manufacturing, medical, technology, and tourism.
Medellín
Taizhou
Directory of Consulates
Consuls represent their respective countries in the area. They are the central point of contact for all trade, cultural and diplomatic liaison between their country and the local community. Directory of Consulates.
Central Florida International Trade Office
In November 2013, Orange County Government, JP Morgan Chase, and the National Entrepreneur Center (NEC) announced the new Central Florida International Trade Office (CFITO), which provides a central point for connecting the global trading community to local companies and supports small businesses who wish to export through partnerships and resources. This one-year pilot program was made possible by a $65,000 contribution from Orange County and a dollar-per-dollar matching grant from JP Morgan Chase.
The creation of CFITO will enable Orange County companies to tap into key trading markets and expand their export endeavors by improving the efficiency of routing and directing inquiries by potential international trading partners. CFITO will also streamline the process for foreign investors to connect with a local partner who can best assist them in establishing operations in our region.
As of 2016, Florida’s total merchandise trade exceeded $143 billion, with $3.1 billion originating from the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford region
The Central Florida International Trade Office is located at the National Entrepreneur Center.
DOING BUSINESS IN ORANGE COUNTY
The future of Orange County is filled with opportunity as we continue to drive smart economic growth as one of the highest performing regions in the world.