For businesses who wish to maintain a presence not only in the United States, but also to other regions and markets as well, setting shop in the city of Miami is a wise option. The city of Miami offers excellent opportunities for new and expanding businesses. Miami is a tourism hotbed, as it serves as the port of origin for the vast majority of cruise lines that ply the Caribbean.

It's also home to numerous companies that do business in Latin America. Whatever your niche, you're definitely going to discover a potential market in Miami, and South Florida as well.

The City Is One Of The Nation's Important Financial Centers

Miami is considered as one of the nation's important financial centers. The city is the major center of regional commerce, and has a strong international business community. According to surveys, Miami is considered a vital link between North and South America, hence it has been called "The Gateway To The Americas", because of its proximity to Latin America.

The city also serves as the headquarters of many multinational corporations, as this area serves as a base for their Central and Latin American operations. Many top firms, including American Airlines, Cisco, Disney, Exxon, Microsoft, Oracle, SBC Communications, Sony, and Visa International have their regional operations centers here.

Miami Port Is Among The Nation's Busiest

The Port of Miami is among the nation's busiest ports of entry, particularly for cargo coming from South America and the Caribbean. The city also serves as the base of operations of many cruise line companies, which ply the routes across the Caribbean, South America and Europe.

In addition, downtown Miami also has the largest concentration of international banks in the country. The city also has the distinction of hosting the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, and is one of the leading candidates to become the trading bloc's headquarters.

The City Offers Many Incentives To Businesses

The city of Miami, along with Miami-Dade County as well, provides for a number of tax advantages, and other incentives to businesses of all types and sizes. The absence of any local or state personal income taxes helps to lower overall employment costs. The city has no local corporate tax, and the state's corporate tax rate of 5.5% is among the lowest in the US. Qualified new businesses may also qualify for getting federal benefits when locating their enterprises within the Miami-Dade federal Empowerment Zone.

The city of Miami is known for many things; however one of the most commonly-cited reasons for visiting Miami is its vibrant and diverse nightlife. As compared to other cities, Miami has a thriving nightlife, so the day does not have to end when the beach closes for the night.

There is a wide sampling of dance clubs, theaters, restaurants, fancy cafes and bars that dot the Miami landscape. South Beach in particular is also frequently often cited as having one of the hottest, and most interesting entertainment districts in the country, and has a booming culinary, cultural, sports and recreation, and housing market.