Secretariat, Taipei City Government

On October 17, 2022, Leo Yao, the Representative in Asia-Pacific of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau in the United States, visited Tom Chou, the Commissioner of Taipei City Mayor’s Office for External Affairs, to exchange their ideas about deepening the trade and cultural collaboration between the cities.

Representative Yao noted that Houston’s competitive advantages in terms of taxes, transportation, and globalization have attracted many international high-tech companies to establish offices there and that it is currently looking to attract Taiwan’s advanced high-tech businesses to establish offices in Houston.

Cultural events such as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Downtown Rodeo Parade, and Rodeo Run in March every year are attended by more than 2.5 million participants each year. Almost every citizen of Houston volunteers at these events, and revenue from these events is donated to the city’s educational fund. Representative Yao invited Taipei City citizens to experience Texas’ cowboy culture in Houston.

Representative Yao also talked with Commissioner Chou about the primary mission of his visit to Taiwan, which is to acquire permission from the Taipei Fine Arts Museum for renowned Taiwanese artist Chen Chin’s work to be exhibited in Houston and to obtain Taipei City’s support for Daniel Palomo in the International Congress and Convention Association’s chair election.

Chou assured Yao that Mayor Ko, as the mayor of Houston’s sister city, would support Daniel Palomo in the chair elections and that Houston would have his full support and assistance in the exhibition of Chen’s work in Houston, which he expected to enhance cultural exchange between the cities.

Chou also used the opportunity to share with Yao that incentives offered by Taipei City had attracted diplomatic missions to Taiwan to hold more than 30 international cultural exhibitions and events this year and last year and invited Houston to hold events in Taipei City to share Texas’ cowboy culture with Taipei City citizens.