Mayor of Phoenix meets with Lai, highlights deeper collaboration

Taipei, Jan. 14 (CNA) Visiting Mayor of Phoenix Kate Gallego on Wednesday highlighted advanced air mobility, aviation and sports as key areas for expanded cooperation during a meeting with President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei.

"The city of Phoenix wants to be a leader in advanced air mobility," Gallego said, noting that Phoenix is the first major U.S. city to implement drone package delivery. Given Taiwan's strengths in the field, she said, "we hope to have additional collaboration."

Although semiconductor cooperation between Taiwan and Arizona has drawn the most attention -- particularly Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s (TSMC) pledged US$165 billion investment in Phoenix -- Gallego said the two sides have a much longer history of cooperation in aerospace, including training military and commercial pilots for Taiwan.

"Arizona and Phoenix are very sunny. We have wonderful conditions for aviation," Gallego said, adding that the city hopes to "build on that aerospace collaboration."

She also pointed to people-to-people exchanges, citing a friendly youth baseball game held Sunday between the Phoenix Arcadia U12 team, part of her delegation, and a youth team from Tainan.

"We do report that the young men of Tainan beat the young men of Phoenix by a wide margin," Gallego said.

"Our Arizona Diamondbacks are already recruiting and have talent from Taiwan in their community, and we will tell them to look at the young baseball players in Tainan," she added.

According to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gallego is also scheduled to meet Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), representatives from Taiwan's high-technology sector, and officials from the Taipei and Tainan city governments to discuss cooperation in technology and trade.

Thanking Gallego for her third visit to Taiwan since taking office in 2019, Lai praised her for taking "concrete actions" to deepen bilateral ties.

He also thanked her administration and the Phoenix City Council for creating a business-friendly environment that has enabled Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers to establish operations and helped Phoenix emerge as a strategically important global technology hub.

He expressed hope that a bilateral agreement to avoid double taxation can be signed as soon as possible. Such an agreement, Lai said, would help companies such as TSMC establish a long-term presence in the United States while also creating high-paying jobs for local communities.