Question: What is AmCham's mission?
Richard Vuylsteke: Membership services and the pursuit of a better international business environment are at the heart of everything we do.
Fifty-one years ago, our original Articles of Association with the city of Taipei stipulated that we would be a non-profit, non-partisan business organization dedicated to fostering commerce and trade between Taiwan and the United States, and to encouraging implementation of the highest possible international business standards in Taiwan.
The chamber's core values in support of that mission are the promotion of private enterprise, rule of law, free trade, ethical and responsible business practices, and transparency and the free flow of information.
We still seek the same goals. That said, we have come a long way in refining and expanding our activities.
Q: What are some of your main activities?
Vuylsteke: AmCham has always offered networking opportunities throughout the year, but now a typical calendar year will offer more than 150 programs, meetings, and special events. Many activities provide direct access to key government and business leaders. Others focus on professional development, business information and opportunities, and quality of life issues.
Others are quite frankly designed to be relaxed, fun events. Good examples are our monthly Afterhours cocktail parties, the 4th of July family fair, and our Holiday Ball, which is one of the best parties of the year.
AmCham is also well known for its vigorous lobbying program, the wide range of timely business information and analysis it provides through TOPICS magazine, its web site, in-depth Legislative Yuan reports, and other publications.
We have 17 people in the AmCham office, and I can assure you that they take the service focus of their jobs very seriously indeed.
It's a dedicated group of people and that shows in the number and variety of our activities.
Q: What is AmCham's membership profile?
Vuylsteke: AmCham has long been the largest foreign business organization in Taiwan. We now have around 900 members representing more than 500 companies. AmCham is open to all international business people and government representatives who agree with AmCham's objectives and values. American citizenship is not a requirement and members are not required to reside in Taiwan.
But there have been some substantial changes in our profile. A couple of decades ago, most of the chamber members were male Caucasian expatriates from the United States who were most likely involved some way or another in manufacturing.
Today, AmCham is very much international in scope. Our nationality breakdown is roughly 43 percent American, 30 percent Taiwanese, 15 percent European, British and Canadian, and the remaining 12 percent from Australia, New Zealand, and other countries in Asia and Africa. This diversity is one of the chamber's greatest strengths -- and it certainly makes our Monthly Luncheons interesting times to network!
Twenty-two percent of our members are female, and the majority of our companies are now in services, not manufacturing.
CEOs and senior management make up 60 percent of the total membership. The rest come from middle management, young professionals, and various non-government and trade office organizations.
Virtually every major business sector in Taiwan is represented. AmCham is a fascinatingly diverse organization to belong to.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
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