President Tsai Addresses AmCham’s 2019 AGM

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With President Tsai Ing-wen as the keynote speaker, AmCham Taipei’s 2019 Annual General Meeting was held November 19 in the newly redecorated Grand Ballroom of Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza. The President paid tribute to the Chamber’s “key role in advancing Taiwan-U.S. trade relations, and in bringing new investments to Taiwan.”

Some 230 Chamber members and guests attended the luncheon meeting, where voting was conducted for the 2020 Board of Governors and Supervisors. See the announcement of the results here.

The six Governors elected for two-year terms were:

  • Mark Chen of Abbott Laboratories
  • CW Chin of Applied Materials Taiwan
  • Timothy Shields of Cigna Taiwan
  • Gina Tsai of Airbnb
  • Fupei Wang of Ogilvy Public Relations
  • Angela Yu of Microsoft

They join 2019-2021 Governors Al Chang of Deloitte & Touche, Albert Chang of McKinsey, Seraphim Ma of Baker & McKenzie, Jan-Hendrik Meidinger of the Grand Hyatt Taipei, and Paulus Mok of Citibank.

Newly elected for one-year terms as Supervisors were:

  • Mark Horng of Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • Stephen Tan of International Policy Advisory Group
  • Terry Tsao of SEMI Taiwan

In her speech, President Tsai also thanked AmCham for helping to “remove many obstacles for U.S. companies investing and operating in Taiwan.” She said the government listens closely to the suggestions of AmCham members and responds to their concerns, citing the recent implementation of a Patent Linkage System for pharmaceuticals as an example. See her full remarks here.

Tsai stressed her administration’s determination to build a new economic development model for Taiwan, one that will “transform Taiwan into Asia’s high-end manufacturing and R&D center, a regional financial and wealth management center, and a base for high-quality talent.”

The meeting also included a State of the Chamber 2019 report by Leo Seewald, who served as the AmCham Taipei chairman for most of the year. He highlighted the Chamber’s recent achievements, including receiving the 2019 Corporate Community Leadership Award from the Community Services Center for “exceptional leadership, service, and commitment to Taiwan.”

Seewald also presented the first annual Outstanding Committee Co-chair Awards to Joyce Lee of the Public Health Committee and Dylan Tyson of the Insurance Committee.

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Note: AmCham events are intended primarily for AmCham members and their guests. Many events are open to members’ guests and other non-members, but the attendance of any non-member must be approved in advance. AmCham reserves the right not to admit a non-member to any event without explanation.

Foreign Ministry Awards AmCham’s Senior Director Don Shapiro the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs awarded Don Shapiro, Editor-in-Chief of Taiwan Business TOPICS and Senior Director of AmCham, with the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy at a reception packed with family, friends and colleagues on November 8. The Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Wu, recognized Mr. Shapiro for his contributions to Taiwan’s development as a journalist over the last several decades.

A transcript of Mr. Shapiro’s remarks is as follows:

Minister Wu, Distinguished guests, friends and colleagues, good afternoon.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. This is indeed a great honor. I’m glad I decided to stay in Taiwan longer than the originally planned 10 months.

Although I deeply appreciate the recognition, in fact I consider that it was really my privilege to have been in Taiwan to witness the remarkable transformations that occurred here – politically, economically, socially – and to have been able to help make more people around the world aware of those developments.

When I came to Taiwan in 1969, it was an autocratic, one-party system. I got to know a number of former political prisoners, and one of the least pleasant reporting duties I had was to cover trials of civilians brought before military tribunals under martial law.

Then came the emergence of the tangwai, the founding of the DPP, the end of martial law, new legislative elections, and the direct election of the president. Taiwan had evolved into a vibrant, full-fledged democracy. For this former political science graduate student, it was like a living laboratory.

In international relations, Taiwan was steadily losing diplomatic recognition from other countries, but it was replacing it with strong, substantive unofficial relations. In effect, I saw the writing of a whole new chapter in the history of international affairs.

Economically, when I arrived in Taiwan this country was just going through the transition from an agricultural to an industrial society. Fortunately, besides my political science courses, I had studied a bit of economics, so I could also write about the strides Taiwan was making in economic development. I saw it thrive as one of the Four Tigers of Asia and then become a technology powerhouse.

I recall that 1969, the year of my arrival, was the first year in which Taiwan exported more than one billion US dollars worth of products. Now it exports almost that much in a day.

In addition to my international reporting, for 25 years I was a partner in a publishing company called Trade Winds. Taiwanese companies were then very good at manufacturing but not so much at marketing. Trade Winds played an important role in reaching out to importers around the world and introducing Taiwanese export industries and products.

The past nearly 20 years have been with the American Chamber, and this has also been a great experience. There are not nearly enough media covering Taiwan in the English language, and I believe our Taiwan Business TOPICS monthly has helped fill that gap. Our annual Taiwan White Paper always gets a lot of attention, and it’s been gratifying – especially in the last few years – to see how seriously the Taiwan government takes the issues raised in the White Paper and tries to resolve them.

Again, I would like to thank the government for this honor. Taiwan has been good to me. I came to Taiwan alone but met my wife here and we’ve now been married 46 years. From the start I always enjoyed warm acceptance from her family. I believe that as a “son-in-law of Taiwan,” I had the chance to delve more deeply into Taiwan society and appreciate Taiwan culture.

Our two daughters were born in Taiwan. And although under the Nationality Act at that time they were unable to become ROC citizens, they’ve always considered Taiwan to be home. After more than 20 years in the U.S., daughter Debbie last year decided to return and is now working in the Taiwan hotel industry. Daughter Laurie lives and works in Singapore but looks for every opportunity to come back to visit.

I’m also grateful to the AmCham officers and board for their consistent support and my wonderful colleagues on the Chamber staff for their friendship and unflagging cooperation. I would also like to give a special thanks to several people here today – Kang Ning-hsiang and Antonio Chiang. Over the years, I have learned so much about Taiwan politics from speaking with them. I should also put Minister Wu in that category.

As for the future, I have always been an optimist about Taiwan. In my years here, I’ve seen Taiwan confronted with numerous big challenges, and it has always had the resiliency and fortitude to come out okay. I believe that will continue to be the case, especially if Taiwan continues to open up and connect with the rest of the world as much as possible.

Thank you all for being here today, and thank you MOFA for this honor.

New Co-chair Awards – Recognizing Impactful Leadership

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Many of the most important people at AmCham Taipei are the committee co-chairs. They are the ones who lead the organization’s 25 industry committees – the backbone of our advocacy mission that aims to make Taiwan’s business environment more open, innovative and prosperous. Each year, the co-chairs spend hours and hours writing e-mails, briefing policymakers, holding meetings and molding a consensus with their peers on issues that are vital to our businesses.

The Board of Governors has decided it’s time to formally recognize the most impactful co-chairs. With recommendations from the AmCham staff, the Board will select two co-chairs who will receive awards at the Annual General Meeting on Nov. 19. The selection criteria will include:

  • Catalyzing activity with regular committee meetings, strategic goals, innovative tactics and efficient execution.
  • Engaging with Taiwanese and U.S. policymakers on a regular basis and achieving results through substantive engagement.
  • Organizing events that raise the organization’s profile and advance the mission.
  • Joining the CEO Mission to Washington.

Senator Ted Cruz Attends National Day Celebration, Meets with AmCham Taipei

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U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas and former presidential candidate, became the first U.S. senator in 35 years to attend Taiwan’s National Day celebrations when he visited Taipei on Oct. 9-10. The senator’s visit was part of a swing through the region that also included Japan, India and Hong Kong. After observing the National Day festivities, Senator Cruz had lunch with AmCham Taipei Chairman Leo Seewald and President William Foreman. Also attending was Brent Christensen, the director of the American Institute in Taiwan. Topics of discussion included business opportunities for U.S. companies in Taiwan, the country’s relations with China and the outlook for Taiwan’s economy.

Exploring Solutions to Taiwan’s Aging Society

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In 2018, Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior reported that 14% of the island’s population was over the age of 65. That rate is rapidly increasing and is expected to reach 20% or higher by 2026, which could make Taiwan the world’s first “super-aged society.” Such a prospect is alarming, given the vast amount of energy and resources that would be needed to provide adequate care for the growing number of elderly.

In order to address this pressing issue, AmCham Taipei hosted the 2019 Taipei Healthy Aging Forum, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on September 27. The forum brought together representatives from the public and private sectors, as well as civil society organizations, to discuss the various challenges associated with an aging society and how to effectively confront these challenges.

In his keynote speech at the forum, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, a former trauma surgeon, noted that Taiwan’s rate of aging is one of the highest in the world. Within 24 years, the number of Taiwanese over the age of 65 jumped from 7% to 14% of the general population. Ko emphasized the importance of accurate government statistics in formulating good elder-care policy, as well as the need to reform Taiwan’s pension system so as to reduce the length of time that retirees are dependent on public resources.

Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je

Most of the event’s speakers focused on the dire need for a public health framework that includes holistic, integrated approaches to long-term care for Taiwan’s elderly. Dr. Yeh Yen-Po, director of Changhua County’s Department of Health, introduced the program that his department has implemented, which incorporates improving and promoting long-term care services, encouraging healthy living practices, and increasing community involvement. This program has created a more aging-friendly environment in Changhua and can serve as a model for other cities and counties across the island.

Dr. Yeh Yen-Po, director of Changhua County’s Department of Health

Another topic that speakers addressed was the issue of frailty, the physiological decline that the body undergoes as a result of aging, and how it is affected by a number of environmental and social factors that can be controlled by strong healthcare policies. Participants from industry stressed the important role of public-private partnerships in creating effective long-term care solutions that utilize predictive, preventive approaches, rather than the current model of procedural intervention. Vincent Shih, assistant general counsel at Microsoft and general manager of Microsoft Greater China’s Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs Leadership team, gave a presentation that described how the use of big data and technology can improve the quality of health services for the elderly.

The forum included two discussion panels moderated by Dr. Kang Jaw-Jou, vice president of National Yang-Ming University, and Professor Jennifer Wang, COO of GLORIA and chair of National Cheng-Chi University’s Risk Management and Insurance Department, respectively. Panelists included Dr. Wang Ying-yue, director general of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Health Promotion Administration; Dr. Mark Tennyson, executive director and regional head of Value, Access and Policy for Amgen JAPAC; and Tim Shields, general manager and CEO of Cigna Taiwan Life Insurance. AmCham Taipei President William Foreman provided brief closing remarks.

The forum’s platinum sponsor was Amgen. Cigna was the silver sponsor.

From left to right: AmCham Public Health Committee Co-Chair Joyce Lee, General Manager, Amgen Taiwan Limited; Dr. Wang Ying-yue, Director-General of Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Health Promotion Administration; AmCham President William Foreman; and AmCham Public Health Committee Co-Chair Tim Shields General Manager & CEO, Cigna Taiwan Life Assurance Company Ltd.

AmCham Public Health Committee Co-Chairs Joyce Lee and Tim Shields, AmCham President William Foreman, speakers, and panelists

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Note: AmCham events are intended primarily for AmCham members and their guests. Many events are open to members’ guests and other non-members, but the attendance of any non-member must be approved in advance. AmCham reserves the right not to admit a non-member to any event without explanation.

Micron Hosts AmCham Taipei Field Trip

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A group of 24 AmCham Taipei members and Chamber staff took part in a field trip to the Taoyuan plant of Micron Technology on February 15. They heard an excellent briefing from Lin Kiat Yap, Chairman of Micron Technology Taiwan and Vice President of the Boise-Idaho based parent company, about the memory industry and Micron’s leading role in it. Then the visitors donned masks and “bunny suits” to tour the largest cleanroom (20,000 square meters) in the facility.

In his briefing, Yap outlined Micron’s growth from a four-partner startup in the basement of a dental clinic in Boise in 1978 to its position today as the world’s third largest memory company, with annual revenue of more than US$30 billion. The company has 34,000 employees worldwide and holds more than 40,000 patents.

Micron has the distinction of being the largest foreign investor in Taiwan. Besides the plant in Taoyuan’s Guishan, it also has facilities in the Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung. The company has established a Center of Excellence in Taiwan to troubleshoot any production problems found in Micron plants around the world and devise solutions.

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Note: AmCham events are intended primarily for AmCham members and their guests. Many events are open to members’ guests and other non-members, but the attendance of any non-member must be approved in advance. AmCham reserves the right not to admit a non-member to any event without explanation.

AmCham Holiday Dinner Features a Visit from Santa

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Santa Claus took time off from Christmas preparations at his North Pole workshop to drop in – to the delight of the many children attending – on AmCham Taipei’s Holiday Dinner on December 14 at the Sherwood Taipei.

The event, the first of its kind for the Chamber, was a resounding success, with more than 70 members and guests attending.

View the full photo gallery here.

The buffet dinner featured carved roast turkey and other dishes from the Sherwood kitchen, including an assortment of child-friendly choices. Besides meeting Santa to tell him their Christmas wishes, the kids also flocked to the gingerbread cookie station, where they could make their own decorations on the cookies with icing.

Everyone received a gift bag of Aunt Stella cookies and complementary passes to the Taipei Dangdai Art & Ideas Exhibition in January.

AmCham expresses its thanks to Corporate Sponsors Corning Display Technologies, SEMI Taiwan, and Versum Materials, as well as Raffle Prize Sponsors Aunt Stella, Hilton Taipei Sinban, and The Sherwood Taipei.

Interested in attending our events? Join us at other upcoming events, click here.

Note: AmCham events are intended primarily for AmCham members and their guests. Many events are open to members’ guests and other non-members, but the attendance of any non-member must be approved in advance. AmCham reserves the right not to admit a non-member to any event without explanation. 

New Board Members Elected at 2018 AGM

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Five candidates were elected to a two-year term on the Board of Governors, and three to a one-year term as Supervisors, at the AmCham Taipei’s 2018 Annual General Meeting at the Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza hotel on November 20. About 170 AmCham members and guests attended the luncheon meeting.

The newly elected Governors to serve in 2019-2020 are:

  • Al Chang of Deloitte & Touche
  • Albert Chang of McKinsey & Co.
  • Seraphim Ma of Baker & McKenzie
  • Jan-Hendrik Meidinger of the Grand Hyatt Taipei
  • Paulus Mok of Citibank Taiwan

The 2019 Supervisors will be:

  • Vincent Shih of Microsoft Taiwan
  • Terry Tsao of SEMI Taiwan
  • Dylan Tyson of Prudential Life Insurance

The in-line candidates for Governor are Leo Seewald of BlackRock Investment, Petra Jumpers of Eli Lilley & Co., and Joyce Lee of Amgen Taiwan, while Carl Wegner of R3 is the alternate candidate for Supervisor.

At the start of the meeting, AmCham Chairman Albert Chang outlined some of the Chamber’s outstanding achievements during the past year. These included record levels of success in resolving White Paper issues, a revamped Business Climate Survey, and the speech by Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Alex Wong at the Hsieh Nien Fan banquet, generating extensive domestic and international media coverage.

The guest speaker at the luncheon, Director Brent Christensen of the American Institute in Taiwan, called attention to the numerous areas of close cooperation between the United States and Taiwan, including:

  • The Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF), a partnership to demonstrate and share Taiwan’s strengths and expertise with other countries, which has held numerous exchanges and workshops on a wide variety of subjects.
  • The U.S. granting of visa waiver to Taiwan, plus its own Global Entry program, which has enabled the volume of two-way travel to surpass one million people a year.
  • The growing interest by Taiwanese companies in investing in the United States, as shown by Taiwan having the largest single delegation at the SelectUSA summit this year.
  • The U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy, which is opening increased opportunities for cooperation in such areas as infrastructure, energy, and the digital economy, in sync with the Taiwan government’s New Southbound Policy and 5+2 Innovative Industry program.

Christensen also referred to Vice President Mike Pence’s October 4 speech on U.S. China policy which praised Taiwan as a model for democratic development for the Chinese people. The AIT Director cited three areas where Taiwan is well-positioned to demonstrate a leadership role as a responsible member of the international community:

  • Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection. Taiwan has made great improvements in this area, and IPR cooperation has now become a hallmark of the bilateral relationship, he said.
  • Regulatory transparency. Whereas Taiwan had a relatively opaque rules-making regime just a few years ago, it has since become a model by adopting a 60-day notice and comment period, enabling stakeholders to participate in the process.
  • Science-based regulation. It should be standard practice to base regulatory decisions on scientific evidence.

View the full photo gallery here.

Bringing Hawaii to Taipei: The 2018 American Ball

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“Aloha Hawaii” was the theme of the dazzling 2018 American Ball, co-organized by AmCham Taipei and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). On the evening of November 3, AmCham members and their guests entered the beautifully decorated (thanks to the Feng Ze Design Center) Grand Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Taipei and immediately imagined themselves transported to America’s favorite vacation spot.

After a cocktail reception featuring a welcome drink of Robert Mondavi Winery’s Woodbridge Sparkling Brut courtesy of Sergio Valente, Master of Ceremonies Ed Shober opened the festivities. AmCham Chairman Albert Chang and President Bill Foreman, accompanied by AIT Director Brent Christensen and Deputy Director Ray Greene, then greeted the attendees on behalf of the host organizations.

View the full photo gallery here.

Showing its usual creativity, the Grand Hyatt served a gourmet five-course meal that featured a cucumber red quinoa salad with Ahi poke and young corn, pumpkin chowder, cucumber granite passionfruit jelly, roasted U.S. beef tenderloin, and dessert of a chocolate sphere with coconut cream and fresh pineapple. The dinner was accompanied by Robert Mondavi Winery Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay (from Sergio Valente) and Johnnie Walker Double Black (from Diageo). “Blue Hawaii” and other cocktails were available at the bar.

Before and during dinner, the ball-goers enjoyed spirited Hawaii-inspired entertainment routines devised by the VMJ dance group. Once the music started – provided by talented Sherwyne Pereira and his band, as well as DJ Rick Kraft – the dance floor was packed for the rest of the evening with gyrating, enthusiastic revelers.

The event was made possible by the generosity of a number of sponsoring companies. These included Grand Prize Sponsor United Airlines; Wine & Liquor Sponsors Diageo and Sergio Valente; Gold Sponsors Amgen, Grand Hyatt Taipei, HSBC, Taiwan Sotheby’s, and Versum Materials; Décor Sponsor Standard Chartered Bank; Silver Sponsors BlackRock, Corning, Invisalign, and Prospect Hospitality Co. Ltd. (McDonald’s Restaurants); and General Sponsor The Tobacco Institute of the Republic of China (TIROC), with a special thanks to the Primasia Conference & Business Center (PCBC).

Attractive raffle prizes added to the excitement of the evening. The grand prize, by United Airlines, was two round-trip business-class tickets to any destination in the United States. The second prize was four nights’ stay for two at either the Club Med Kani (Maldives) or Club Med Sahoro (Japan). Other gift sponsors were the Grand Hyatt Taipei, eslite hotel, Ever Rich D.F.S. Corp., Hawaii Island Real Estate/Clark Realty Hilo, Hotel Eclat Taipei, Howard Plaza, Landis Taipei, Mandarin Oriental Taipei, Mellow Fields Taipei, Palais de Chine, Procter & Gamble, Regent Taipei, Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, Sherwood Taipei, Westin Tashee Resort Taoyuan, and W Taipei.

ARCs Will Get New Numbering System

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During an interview with AmCham Taipei’s Taiwan Business TOPICS about immigration, Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung disclosed that the current coding format for Alien Residence Certificates (ARCs) – two letters from the English alphabet followed by eight Arabic numerals – will be changed to conform with the coding format of Taiwan’s National Identity Card number issued to citizens. This change to one letter from the English alphabet followed by nine Arabic numerals is designed to provide greater convenience to foreign nationals living in Taiwan, providing another incentive for them to stay, the Minister said.

After the revision, foreign nationals will be able to shop online, book tickets, and register for medical care or various types of membership using the same procedure as Taiwanese nationals. The Ministry of the Interior says it will coordinate with other ministries and important industrial and commercial groups to help integrate the various information systems and facilities of the public and private sectors.