The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is planning to establish a representative office in Phoenix, Arizona, with the goal of opening within this year, a source familiar with the issue said yesterday.
The government is preparing to set up a representative office in Phoenix, where Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and several other Taiwanese investments are located, the source said.
The ministry is negotiating it with the US government, which has given its initial consent, and efforts are under way to open the office within this year, they added.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The government believes that as the US is trying to consolidate its global leadership in artificial intelligence (AI), Taiwan, with its critical role in semiconductor and AI supply chains, the two countries can further deepen their partnership by opening more direct flights or establishing new representative offices, they said.
Such efforts would help Taiwan and the US collaborate and build a “joint fleet,” the source said.
Taiwan has representative offices in Washington, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Guam, Honolulu, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle.
The Phoenix office would be the first new office established in the US in nearly 40 years.
US states are also establishing representative offices in Taiwan.
Oklahoma, Tennessee and Iowa last year announced they would open offices in Taiwan. To date, 22 state governments and Guam have set up representative offices in Taiwan.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) revealed the government’s strategic direction during the inaugural flight ceremony for Starlux Airlines’ direct route to Phoenix on Thursday last week.
The ceremony was also attended by American Institute in Taiwan Deputy Director Sandra Oudkirk.
They saw off Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego as she boarded the first direct flight back to Phoenix.
Lin said he often heard that Taiwanese or TSMC employees in Arizona have two primary wishes: to have direct flights to Taiwan, which has now been fulfilled, and for the ministry to set up a representative office there.
After TSMC set up a manufacturing campus in Phoenix, about 300 babies have been born to TSMC-related employees in Arizona over the past five years, and there is a growing Taiwanese community there, he added.
The ministry would enhance local service capacity to ensure that Taiwanese abroad receive care and support from the government, Lin said, adding that he looked forward to taking the direct flight to visit the Phoenix himself.
Phoenix is one of the TSMC’s most-crucial overseas investment hubs, and demand for business travel, family visits and tourism is expected to continue growing, he said.
Lin said he hoped opening direct commercial flights would encourage Taiwan and the US to come together in building a “joint fleet” to create mutual prosperity while bolstering the overall resilience of the “non-red supply chain.”
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