Taipei, July 29 (CNA) California State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and a delegation arrived in Taiwan Monday for a six-day visit in which he is scheduled to meet President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other high level officials to foster bilateral relations.
Rendon taught English in Taoyuan during his younger years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) noted Monday in a press release.
Rendon is accompanied by Monique Limon, the California State Assembly's Banking and Finance Committee chair; Christy Smith, chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management; Luz Maria Rivas, chair of Legislative Ethics; and Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, chair of the Select Committee on Women's Reproductive Health.
"The MOFA expressed a warm welcome to Speaker Rendon and his delegates," the press release said, adding that this is their first official visit to Taiwan.
The visit will help foster bilateral trade and investment and deepen the educational and cultural exchanges between the two sides, the MOFA said.
Rendon is scheduled to pay courtesy calls on Tsai, Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), according to the MOFA.
The visitors will also visit the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Financial Supervisory Commission, the Gender Equality Commission, the Taoyuan City government and the Taoyuan Metro Corp., in addition to the National Palace Museum, the Taipei 101 tower and the Taiwan High Speed Rail Museum.
The purpose of Rendon's visit is to see the development of Taiwan's important infrastructure, including the high speed rail, and to learn about Taiwan's economic development and Industrial Transformation.
Rendon was elected as a representative in the California State Assembly in 2012 and has maintained friendly relations with the Taiwanese community there since then, the MOFA said.
According to MOFA, Taiwan is California's seventh-largest trading partner globally and its fifth-largest trading partner in Asia, with bilateral trade amounting to US$20 billion annually.
(By Emerson Lim)
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