Director General G.J. Lee of the Small and Medium Enterprise and Startup Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs led a SelectUSA Taiwan startup delegation to hold a pitch event at our office on May 7th, engaging in in-depth exchanges with the San Francisco startup ecosystem. Over one hundred people from both Taiwan and the US attended.
Director General of TECO David Wu welcomed the startup delegation and congratulated them on their excellent performance in the SelectUSA startup competition, which will facilitate our efforts to promote Taiwan. Gabriela Zelaya, Acting Director of the Northern California Office of the US Department of Commerce, was also invited to attend. She affirmed Taiwan's technological strength and the R&D capabilities of its startups, and emphasized the importance of bilateral trade and investment relations between Taiwan and the US.
In his remarks, Director General Lee pointed out that this year's SelectUSA theme revolved around the reindustrialization and revitalization of American manufacturing in the US. Participating companies keenly observed the enormous market opportunities arising from US policies, which is precisely the direction for Taiwan to strengthen its industrial development and cooperation with the US. Taiwan's advantages lie in its excellent talent pool and well-developed industrial clusters. He expressed hope that the startup communities of Taiwan and the US can work more closely together in the future.
SelectUSA, hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, aims to accelerate global investment in the U.S. The Ministry of Economic Affairs led 37 Taiwanese startups to participate in the SelectUSA Tech Startup Competition, achieving outstanding results with one gold, three silver, and one bronze medal – the best performance globally. The delegation also held a startup seminar with the U.S. Department of Commerce on the afternoon of the 7th to exchange ideas on AI development trends and market opportunities. On the 8th, a Taiwan Startup Presentation was held in Silicon Valley, inviting top Silicon Valley investment institutions and industry experts covering fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, communications, and health technology, to help Taiwanese startups deepen their exchanges and cooperation opportunities with the Silicon Valley innovation ecosystem.
