Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs Kurt Tong to Visit Taiwan from November 19-21

PR-1450E | Date: 11/18/2014

Kurt Tong, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, will visit Taiwan from November 19-21, 2014.

This will be Mr. Tong's first trip to Taiwan since he assumed his current position in July 2014.  While in Taiwan, he will deliver a keynote address at the Asian Venture Capital Journal Private Equity and Venture Forum Taiwan that surveys the strength and potential of the U.S.-Taiwan investment relationship.  Mr. Tong will hold discussions with a range of Taiwan political, business, and academic figures on trade, investment, and commercial matters of mutual concern.  He will participate in a panel discussion on innovation in cooperation with Taiwan’s National Development Council in celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week.Mr. Tong previously served for three years as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Tokyo, Japan.  Prior to that, he was the U.S. Ambassador for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).  He has been an economic affairs diplomat for the State Department since 1990, serving in South Korea, Japan, China, and the Philippines, as well as in Washington.  Mr. Tong was a Visiting Scholar at the Tokyo University Faculty of Economics and an Associate with the Boston Consulting Group in Tokyo.  Mr. Tong holds a B.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.  He has also studied at the Beijing Institute of Education, Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei, Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Tokyo, and International Christian University in Tokyo.