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President Tsai Ing-wen met with US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) Chairman Michael Splinter on the morning of August 15. She expressed hope that the USTBC can help Taiwan convey how truly committed we are to starting bilateral trade negotiations with the United States as soon as possible, and continue to strengthen our trade partnership.
A translation of the president's remarks is as follows:
It is a pleasure to see Chairman Splinter and President Hammond-Chambers again in Taiwan just a month after meeting at the Taiwan-US Business Summit in New York. This is your second visit to Taiwan since the beginning of the year, a sign of the USTBC's strong support for our bilateral trade partnership. Welcome back to Taiwan and the Presidential Office.
Over the past three years, Taiwan and the United States have enjoyed increasingly close industrial cooperation and exchanges. Leading US firms, including Cisco, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon AWS, have established R&D and innovation centers in Taiwan. And last month, the US Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) joined with the Taiwan Bio Industry Organization (TBIO) to hold the first ever BIO Asia–Taiwan Conference and Exhibition in Taipei, which broke new records both for participation and the number of business matchmaking opportunities on offer.
As Chairman Splinter mentioned at the Taiwan-US Business Summit, Taiwan will have further opportunities for development in the tech, biotech, and textile sectors as the global industrial supply chain undergoes readjustment.
We in Taiwan are seizing this moment to actively promote our industrial transformation. At the same time, we are encouraging Taiwanese businesses to come back home or to step up investment in the United States or in New Southbound partner countries, diversifying their operations globally in order to better adapt to changes in the international trade outlook. Taiwanese exports to the United States in the first half of this year were up nearly 20% in year-on-year terms, with the biggest growth in ICT products. We look forward to further cooperation and exchanges between Taiwan and the United States across all sectors.
The USTBC is a key platform for communication between Taiwanese and American businesses, and it has also helped Taiwan convey how truly committed we are to starting bilateral trade negotiations with the United States as soon as possible.
I would like to once again thank Chairman Splinter, President Hammond-Chambers, and the USTBC for your support for Taiwan. I'd also like to invite both of you to the Taiwan Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition. I hope this visit brings you up-to-date on the state of Taiwan's industrial development, and I look forward to working together with you in continuing to strengthen the Taiwan-US trade partnership. I wish you a productive trip.
