2022 Annual General Meeting – Another Record Year

AmCham Taiwan held its Annual General Meeting on November 29 at the Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel. Members gathered to vote for new members of the Board of Governors & Supervisors and decide on other items brought to the meeting. More than 240 AmCham Taiwan members and guests, the most ever, attended the event, including chief executives and senior management from a wide range of sectors.

Chairperson Vincent Shih opens the AGM, thanking the current Board and Board election candidates.

Opening Remarks

AmCham Chairperson Vincent Shih opened the event, remarking on the eventful and challenging year brought by the ongoing pandemic and regional challenges. Shih thanked the AmCham community for its support in 2022 and noted that investments in Taiwan continue to increase in both size and value. The Taiwan government has continued to utilize AmCham as a valuable platform for industry insight and the betterment of business policy, while giving serious consideration to members’ needs and recommendations, Shih noted.

The U.S. government has also reaffirmed its support for Taiwan, he said, adding that this year has seen advancements such as the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade and the proposed Taiwan Fellowship Act help forge a shared vision for cooperative growth. Despite global headwinds and regional tensions, Taiwan has outpaced its competitors in the region and, a trend that economists agree will likely continue in 2023.

“Taiwan’s success is AmCham’s success,” Shih said, adding that this year’s AGM was held with a record-high membership level. “In fact, our growth rate this year outperformed Taiwan’s.”

AIT Director Oudkirk address AGM attendees.

Keynote by AIT Director Oudkirk

Guests were treated to keynote remarks by American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk, who emphasized the unique relationship between the United States and Taiwan, and the work that AmCham Taiwan does to support that relationship.

Director Oudkirk highlighted some of the economic ties between the U.S. and Taiwan, including in the technology sphere. She told the audience that after attending the AGM, she was heading to the United States to participate in Taiwan semiconductor company GlobalWafer’s groundbreaking ceremony on a new US$5 billion wafer factory in Texas. Director Oudkirk noted this was an example of the close economic relationship between the two parties.

AmCham President Andrew Wylegala delivers an update on the Chamber.

State of the Chamber

After guests were served lunch, AmCham Taiwan President Andrew Wylegala provided an overview of the past year and a preview of 2023. In 2022, the Chamber set some new records, one for number of members (1,150 individuals, 560 member accounts), and one for revenue, at NT$55 million.

Wylegala shared with members AmCham’s advocacy achievements and various measures to further the interests of its member companies. These achievements included AmCham’s influence in advancing Taiwan’s visa normalization and border reopening, the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade, and the semiconductor industry’s development.

Wylegala summarized that 2022 was a year of two halves. During the first half of the year, the Chamber ran its annual Business Climate Survey and hosted government officials and guests at the Hsieh Nien Fan. However, most other events remained online or scaled back due to pandemic-related restrictions.

In the second half of the year things looked a bit different – the Chamber welcomed the return of in-person visits from US officials and think tanks, in-person committee meetings, and other events returned, and the Chamber ran a flash survey on members’ reactions to increased cross-Strait tensions. Wylegala closed his remarks by highlighting some of the Chamber’s planned projects for 2023, which include a monthly podcast.

Election Results

AmCham Taiwan conveys its sincere gratitude to all the voting members who attended and offered their support at the AGM. With your help, we reached a quorum in line with our legal obligations and held a successful election.

Chairperson Vincent Shih casts his vote at the 2022 Annual General Meeting.

The Board page on our website will be updated in January when the new Board assumes its duties. The results of the 2022 Board Elections are as follows:

2023-2024 Governors (Serving a two-year term, beginning January 1, 2023):

Anita Chen of Google Taiwan
Cynthia Chyn of Amazon Web Services Taiwan
Michael Huang of The Bank of New York Mellon Taipei Branch
Dan Silver of Boston Scientific International B.V.- Taiwan Branch
Cellina Yeh of Pfizer Limited

1st Alternate: Jeffrey Tung of 3M Taiwan Ltd.
2nd Alternate: Jo-Fan Yu of Baker McKenzie
3rd Alternate: Liew Sze Thai of Qualcomm Communication Technologies, Ltd

2023 Supervisors (Serving a one-year term, beginning January 1, 2023):

Claudio Longo of AstraZeneca Taiwan Ltd.
Gwen Wang Reeves of General Electric International Inc
Miyuki Tanaka of Johnson & Johnson Taiwan Ltd.

1st Alternate: Paulus Mok of Citibank Taiwan Ltd.
2nd Alternate: Andrew Ho of Corning Display Technologies Taiwan

Congratulations to the winning candidates, and heartfelt thanks to all the candidates that put themselves forward for the election.