By: Megan Way and Susan Santarcangelo | Photos by Su Phelps
The Taiwan Chamber of Commerce of North America held its 32nd Annual Board Meeting at the Bellagio Hotel/Casino and Rio Hotel/Casino, October 30 –November 1, 2019. Congresswoman Dina Titus presented the TCCNA group and President Gerald Wang with a Congressional Certificate of Recognition. Congresswoman Susie Lee’s and Congressman Steve Horsford’s office also presented a certificate of recognition to TCCNA and President Gerald Wang at the Diplomat Banquet. The attendee was over1,500. Gerald lead his team to choose 32nd Annual Board Meeting in Las Vegas. He believes Las Vegas offers the best convention amenities for TCCNA and opportunities for them to explore Nevada business environment.
To kick off the Convention, on October 30th, members gathered at the Voodoo Steakhouse (50th & 51st floors) at the Rio Hotel/Casino to have a grand Halloween party and dinner. TCCNA President Jerry Wong began the dinner with an opening speech. TCCGLV President Betty Shau give warm welcome remarks. And the keynote speaker was Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles Ambassador Abraham W S Chu .
On October 31st at the KJ Dim Sum Seafood at the Rio Hotel/Casino, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske welcomed members to the city at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Welcome Dinner. She described Nevada’s business perks, including having no corporate income tax, inheritance tax, estate tax, liability protections and reasonable real estate prices. Companies like Tesla, Switch, Microsoft, and eBay already take advantage of Nevada’s business friendly environment. “A great source of pride for Nevada is our strong relationship with Taiwan; I consider myself to be truly fortunate to witness how far we have come, and I look forward to continue our effort to establishing stronger connections as well as forming greater friendships between Nevada and the Taiwan business community.”
On October 31st Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco Joseph C. L. Ma said at the Diplomat Banquet, “Taiwan is the best trade partner for the United States. In order to promote the US Taiwan trade ties we organized global delegates to visit Washington D.C. Every year in recent years TCCNA members visit Capitol Hill and The Department of Commerce to enhance the bilateral trade agreement and relations between the United states and Taiwan. We are very glad that we’ve joined efforts of United States and Taiwan and are able to enjoy the economic growth mutually.”
On November 1st, at the Bellagio Hotel/Casino Representative Titus spoke as a keynote speaker at the Diplomat Banquet. Representative Titus who serves on a number of Congressional committees including the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees welcomed the attendees and assured them that she was involved with actions in Congress to support Taiwan. “I serve on the Asian Subcommittee and the Foreign Affairs Committee so Taiwan-U.S. relations are very important. Not only military relations, but diplomatic relations and also economic relations.”
She explained that she felt this was especially important now since China is exerting so much pressure on both Taiwan and the surrounding countries in Asia. “… we have passed out of the House several bills that reaffirm our relationship and have approved the sale of some arms in some circumstances to Taiwan. We’ve also, reasserted from Congress the fact we need to bring Taiwan into international organizations, and we need to take a leadership role as some of the countries begin to pull away from Taiwan under the pressure of China. We don’t want to sever any of those diplomatic relations.” She noted that while In Congress she had visited Taiwan and was moved by “…the devotion of the people there who believe in the same democratic principles that we do in the U.S. So, we need to keep that bond very strong.”
About TCCNA: The North American Taiwan Chamber of Commerce Association was established in 1987. It is a non-profit industrial and commercial organization. The main members are excellent businesspeople from Taiwan who have immigrated to North America. They hope that through the strength of the group association. The North American business community has an important position.
Its objectives are as follows:
1. Promote economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between members and the North American business community.
2. Promote business contacts and friendship between members and members.
III. Promote members in North America Establishing a professional image of business in the society.
IV. Promoting mutual investment and trade exchanges between members and Taiwan’s economic and trade departments and industrial and commercial enterprises
