Drafter
Clerk 09/16/2014
Title
A MOTION calling to strengthen the relationship between the municipality of Kaohsiung and King County.
Body
WHEREAS, King County aims to build lasting partnerships with diverse communities to establish mutual, healthy economies and environments where all people and businesses have the opportunity to thrive, and
WHEREAS, the Pacific Northwest is an important gateway to Taiwan, China and other international entities, and
WHEREAS, Taiwan is Washington's eighteenth largest export market, and
WHEREAS, a significant number of King County residents are of Taiwanese origin and play an important role in promoting trade and cultural relations between King County and Taiwan, and
WHEREAS, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office ("TECO") in Seattle was founded to promote and strengthen the economic and cultural ties between the United States and the Republic of China (Taiwan), and
WHEREAS, King County formerly recognized Kaohsiung as a sister county and celebrated this relationship through trade missions and other mutually-beneficial economic partnerships, and
WHEREAS, Kaohsiung county has now been merged with the city of Kaohsiung as a combined city-county municipality, and
WHEREAS, in partnership with TECO, King County and the municipality of Kaohsiung wish to deepen their vibrant sister government relationship, and
WHEREAS, organizations like TECO foster tourism and economic development to our region, and
WHEREAS, the Pacific Northwest region exports large quantities of cherries, apples, local wine and wheat to the Republic of China (Taiwan), and
WHEREAS, in August 2014, the state of Washington and Taiwan signed a new driver license reciprocity agreement enabling drivers to more easily transfer a license from one place to the other, which may be an incentive for people from Taiwan to invest, work and study in Washington state and for people from Washington to invest, work and study in Taiwan,
NOW THEREFORE BE I...

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