Tennessee governor signs MOU, announces plan to open Taiwan office: MOFA

Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed an economic cooperation agreement with Taiwan and announced plans to open a state representative office in the country during a visit earlier this week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Wednesday.

During the governor's brief stay in Taiwan from Monday through Tuesday, Lee and his delegation signed an MOU on economic and trade cooperation between Taiwan and Tennessee with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, MOFA said in a press release.

He also announced that the state will be opening a representative office in Taiwan, MOFA added.

During a dinner at MOFA headquarters in Taipei on Monday night, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) welcomed Lee and his delegation. He also thanked Lee for approving a series of Taiwan-friendly resolutions passed by the state's bicameral legislature over the past five years since becoming governor in 2019.

Lin said he looks forward to closer cooperation between Taiwan and Tennessee in various fields spanning supply chains, education, and talent cultivation, according to the MOFA press release.

Taiwan is Tennessee's 18th largest export market and seventh largest source of imports, according to MOFA.

According to a separate press release from the Tennessee State government on Oct. 17, Taiwan was included in Lee's Asia trip this week, which also took him and Deputy Governor and Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter to South Korea and Japan.

The state currently operates five foreign direct investment (FDI) offices in key countries across Europe and Asia. According to the press release, Tennessee's first FDI office in Taiwan will mark the state's sixth international office.

Currently, a total 24 U.S. states and territories have representative offices in Taiwan.