At a glance
| Booth | S7330 |
| Country | TW |
| Website | www.ait.org.tw/zhtw |
Company profile
American Institute in Taiwan is a non-profit, private corporation established shortly after the United States Government changed its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing on January 1, 1979. The Taiwan Relations Act, PL 96-8, enacted on April 10, 1979, authorized the continuation of commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan after that change in diplomatic recognition. The Act also established the operating framework under which programs, transactions, and other relations carried out by the President or any agency of the United States Government with respect to Taiwan are, in the manner and to the extent directed by the President, conducted and carried out by or through American Institute in Taiwan. Through a contract with American Institute in Taiwan, the Department of State provides a large part of the Institute's funding as well as guidance for its operations, giving the organization a defined relationship with the Department while it remains a non-profit private corporation. Congress, when it passed the Taiwan Relations Act, also assumed an oversight role with respect to the operations of American Institute in Taiwan, making congressional oversight another part of the institutional framework described by the Institute. American Institute in Taiwan's Taipei Main Office has a total staff of more than 550 people and undertakes a wide range of activities that represent U.S. interests in the continuing relationship between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan. The legal framework described by American Institute in Taiwan therefore covers two related levels: continuation of people-to-people commercial, cultural, and other relations, and a channel through which specified U.S. Government programs, transactions, and relations concerning Taiwan are conducted. The Institute's structure combines that statutory operating role with Department of State funding and guidance, congressional oversight, and a Taipei Main Office large enough to carry out commercial, agricultural, consular, and cultural functions through a staff of more than 550 people.
Exhibits
Its activities representing U.S. interests include commercial services that form part of the wide range of work undertaken by the Taipei Main Office. The same activity portfolio includes agricultural sales, placing agriculture-related commercial work among the functions expressly identified by American Institute in Taiwan. American Institute in Taiwan also provides consular services as one of the activities carried out through its Taipei Main Office. Cultural exchanges are another explicitly identified area of work, alongside commercial services, agricultural sales, and consular services within the Institute's broad representation of U.S. interests.
Capabilities and products
- commercial services
- agricultural sales services
- consular services
- cultural exchange services