OT-2404
March 28, 2024

AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk Remarks at Hsieh Nien Fan
March 28, 2024

(As Prepared)

Madame President, Dan, distinguished guests and friends, good evening.  It is an honor to be with you again at the Hsieh Nien Fan Gala Dinner. When I first took this stage two years ago, we were still in the throes of the pandemic. What a long way we have come! No matter what metric you are tracking, it is clear we are in a much better place today and the future looks bright. Tonight, I will highlight several of the accomplishments that we’ve achieved together since I last took this stage, then I’ll look ahead and talk about our plans for 2024.

Bipartisan Support:

I’d like to begin by thanking President Tsai for her strong partnership and unwavering support. The past decade has seen a deepening and broadening of already strong ties between the United States and Taiwan.  Over the course of President Tsai’s tenure, the level of attention on and frequency of visits to Taiwan by American lawmakers hit an all-time high.  According to a recent study published by the Center for Strategic & International Studies, between 2010-2020 an average of nine U.S. congressional delegations visited Taiwan annually.  In 2023, that number spiked to 39 visits by members of Congress, more than triple the previous number of visits in any single year! Six U.S. governors also visited in 2023, but more significantly – in 2021 there were just six state and territory representational offices in Taiwan. By the end of 2024, there will be 23 or more! This substantial increase in official visits by bipartisan Congressional Delegations and Governors from across the United States demonstrates the strategic importance that all levels of the U.S. government place on Taiwan, and our elected officials’ unwavering support for deepening our economic, cultural, and people-to-people ties.

2024 Business Climate Survey / Trade & Investment:

Which brings me to my first topic, the growing trade and investment linkages between the United States and Taiwan.  Taiwan was our 8th largest trading partner in 2023 with $127.5 billion in goods trade.  When you consider the relatively small population on the island, it is clear Taiwan punches far above its weight in the global trading system. The optimism expressed by AmCham member companies in the 2024 Business Climate Survey reinforces this sentiment. As Dan highlighted a few minutes ago, I was especially pleased to see that 92% of the survey respondents plan to maintain or increase their investment in Taiwan, with nearly half the respondents reporting plans to hire more staff this year.  This positive sentiment is, again, supported by the data, which shows U.S. Foreign Direct Investment in Taiwan reached $16.7 billion in 2022.  All of us understand that Taiwan is a reliable and trusted place for companies to invest and do business.  That is why U.S. companies continue to expand their investments in Taiwan year after year. Whether it is a long-term U.S. investor similar to Micron, which recently opened an advanced packaging facility for its high-bandwidth memory chips in in Taichung, or FedEx Express, which expanded its transshipment center at Taoyuan International Airport last July; or newcomers including the U.S. e-commerce platform Coupang or the energy storage provider Fluence, each of these companies has demonstrated through their expanded presence here in the past few months that they increasingly find value in Taiwan as an investment destination.  Of course, investment flows both ways, and we similarly welcome Taiwan’s investments in the United States. In addition to trade, investment, and commerce, people-to-people ties are truly the foundation of our relationship.  Did you know that Taiwan is the sixth-largest source of international students in the United States?  I’m curious, how many of you in the audience studied in the United States? (Raise your hands)  How about those who have a family member who studied in the United States? Look around the room — it is these shared experiences and connections that have facilitated the continued growth of the U.S.-Taiwan economic partnership.

Looking Back:

Last year at this event, I encouraged AmCham and its member companies to work with AIT to create programming, activities, and policies that support diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. I’m happy to report that, less than one year later, my AIT colleagues and I joined AmCham at a number of programs and events.  And our AIT DEIA Committee has been working for months with Amy Chang (Zhang) to organize the AmCham/AIT DEIA Forum on April 18.  I look forward to seeing many of you there. Over the course of the past year, we also reached significant milestones on several of our economic frameworks.  First, we launched the inaugural Science and Technology Cooperation Dialogue in May 2023 to focus on key policy priorities in semiconductor applications, biotechnology, cancer research, and environmental modeling.  We signed the first agreement under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade last June.  In December, we discussed economic coercion, tax-related barriers to two-way investment, and the energy transition in Taiwan. at the fourth Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue. Importantly, during our APEC host year last year, we saw sizable delegations from Taiwan to the United States, including 9 ministers and one deputy minister, showcasing Taiwan’s leadership on a range of economic issues from transportation to health to energy. On the commercial front, AIT has enhanced its cooperation with AmCham in multiple industries including cybersecurity, healthcare, and energy.   Last September, the Commerce Department organized a cybersecurity trade mission led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology Director, Dr. Laurie Locascio. Finally, on outbound investment, last year, for the fifth year in a row, Taiwan had the world’s largest delegation to the SelectUSA Investment Summit.

Looking Ahead:

As we look ahead to our plans for 2024, AIT will continue to collaborate with AmCham and our partners here in Taiwan to contribute to Taiwan’s cyber and energy resilience, and we are looking forward to welcoming our second trade mission in two years, this one focused on uncrewed aerial systems. In June, I plan to lead another very large Taiwan delegation to the SelectUSA Investment Summit.  The Taiwan delegation this year will include sub-delegations in the semiconductor, photonics & quantum, and Bio/Medtech industry sectors.  They will meet with universities, research centers, and potential partners in the newly designated Tech Hubs in Oregon, New York, Montana, Arizona, and elsewhere.  We hope that through building these industry partnerships we will lay the foundation for commercial and research collaboration that will lift both economies and further link our industries in a number of next generation technologies.

Closing:

As many of you are aware, this will be my last Hsieh Nien Fan as AIT Director.  It has been an honor to serve in Taiwan, for the second time in my career! I would like to, again, thank President Tsai for her steadfast support of U.S-Taiwan ties over the course of her tenure. We look forward to working with President-elect Lai and Taiwan’s leaders of all parties to advance our shared interests and values, and to further our longstanding unofficial relationship.  We are confident that Taiwan will continue to serve as an example for all who strive for freedom, democracy, and prosperity. Allow me ✱to close by stating that AIT is committed to continuing to work with our partners in Taiwan — and AmCham Taiwan is one of the most important of those partners — to confront shared challenges and wo🎃rk towards making progress on our collective goals. It is an honor to join you again tonight, and I look forward to working with you to further strengthen our partnership in the months ahead!  Thank you.