US State of Arizona Governor Doug Ducey led a delegation to Taiwan on August 30. Since Tainan City and the State of Arizona have been signatory cities since 2013, Tainan City Mayor Huang Wei-che forwarded the city’s warm welcome as well as local agricultural products such as dried mangos, pineapples, and tomatoes on Aug. 31st and looked forward to hosting the visitors in the future.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Governor Ducey will visit President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu Jau-Shieh. The delegation will also take part in the US Business Day event jointly organized by the MOEA and TAITRA and meet with Taiwan’s semiconductor and related businesses.
TSMC decided to set up new fabs in Phoenix, Arizona in 2020 and the facilities are expected to start operations in 2024. Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che suggested that since both Arizona and Tainan have TSMC fabs, hopefully they could have more high-tech collaborations in the future. The Mayor looks forward to a closer relationship between Taiwan and Arizona, and more frequent interactions related to professionals and technology.
Tainan and Arizona became signatory cities in November 2013 and continue to have interactions in areas such as baseball, education, culture, and tourism. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Tainan sent epidemic prevention supplies to Arizona. Governor Dushi wrote a thank-you letter in return to thank Tainan’s friendship and support when Arizona needed it most.