We attended briefings at the American Institute in Taiwan; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Mainland Affairs Council; and the Bureau of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs.
We also met with Mr. Jason Lin, Chairman and President of Formosa Plastics Corporation, which operates a plant near Delaware City site that produces polymers and specialty PVC resins. We discussed the possibility of linking the complex by railway to the Port of Wilmington and how it could improve the facility's current and future potential.
A Taiwanese education official was contacted by our group to aid Delaware schools in filling teaching positions for Mandarin (the dominant Chinese dialect) as part of our language immersion programs – facilitating connections to the Christina School District and the Delaware Department of Education.
Taiwan is very active in sending college students to the U.S. The Institute of International Education (IIE) reports this country of 24 million sent more than 21,000 of its citizens to American institutions of higher learning in the 2016/17 academic year – the seventh most of any nation.
Despite having a modest number of colleges and universities, Delaware has proven attractive to international students from Taiwan and elsewhere. According to the IIE Open Doors report, Delaware drew 5,664 students from abroad in 2017, generating an estimated $160.2 million in total expenditures. During our trip, we discussed opportunities for building on this success.
Delaware's top industry is agriculture and we believe there is a prospect expanding U.S. exports of agricultural products to Taiwan, which is our seventh largest American farm products export market. Taiwan can meet approximately 80 percent of demand for poultry products through its own domestic production, but it mainly fills the shortfall with imports from the United States.
It is not only government that needs to think in broader, world terms. Many of Delaware's small and medium-sized businesses should also consider adopting a more inclusive perspective. According to Global Delaware – a government agency assisting Delaware companies seeking to export their products and services – businesses that engage in exporting have faster-growing sales, create more jobs, and are less likely to go out of business than non-exporting enterprises.
Delaware trade officials can provide businesses with professional export counseling; access to a network of foreign buyers and distributors; and grant money (for eligible businesses) to expand exporting operations.
Fostering better relationships with foreign government and business leaders, and expanding international trade opportunities for Delaware companies, are activities in which we must actively engage to keep our state globally competitive.
Lyndon Yearick and Paul Baumbach are representatives in the Delaware General Assembly.