TECRO hails success of first U.S.-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue

TECRO hails success of first U.S.-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue

(2020/11/20, Washington, DC)

On November 20th, Taiwan and the United States held the first-ever U.S.-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue in Washington, DC. The U.S. delegation was led by Keith Krach, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment. Taiwan's Minister without portfolio John Deng, Economic Minister Wang Mei-hua and other officials attended the dialogue virtually, while Deputy Economic Minister Chern-chyi “CC” Chen led a delegation to Washington D.C. for the dialogue.

Bi-khim Hsiao, Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), singed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ingrid Larson, Managing Director of American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on behalf of Taiwan and the United States respectively, to establish the U.S.-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue. Under Secretary Krach and Minister Deng also exchanged letters via AIT and TECRO to signal support for the economic dialogue.

In his opening address, Minister Deng said that Taiwan and the U.S. are natural partners, based on our shared democratic values and respect for international rules. Both sides enjoy a trusted partnership and are committed to contributing to regional development in the Indo-Pacific. The MOU signed today will establish a new platform for the U.S. and Taiwan to further institutionalize the economic partnership, as well as identify more ways to work together. Both sides will be able to respond to economic trends and developments by convening meetings and collaborating on effective policy responses.

Representative Bi-khim Hsiao said, “We find ourselves in a drastically changing world with new challenges to human rights, cybersecurity, economic stability and geopolitics. Therefore today’s dialogue comes at an opportune time to discuss how we could work together to address these challenges.”

Deputy Minister Chen called today’s dialogue framework historic and a new milestone for our relationship. “The U.S. is Taiwan’s most important partner. The challenges of the pandemic have made it more important for countries to have secure relationships based on trust.”

Today’s dialogue has generated productive outcomes. Besides establishing an institutionalized dialogue mechanism, both sides also discussed a wide range of issues including science and technology, supply chain restructuring, 5G networks, investment review, infrastructure and energy, global health security and women’s economic empowerment. The success of today’s dialogue advances the U.S.-Taiwan economic partnership to a new level.

Representative Hsiao said she hopes that the economic dialogue meetings will continue in the future to serve as one of the vital high-level dialogue channels between the U.S. and Taiwan. Through this dialogue she hopes that both sides will move forward to a closer mutually beneficial and prosperity-sharing partnership.

Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Kelley Currie, AIT/T Director Brent Christensen, and AIT/W Managing Director Ingrid Larson also participated in today’s discussion.