Senate President Myron D. Jackson is part of a delegation of Virgin Islands public and private sector leaders traveling to Taiwan to participate in the Taipei Smart City Summit and Expo 2018.
The conference, a four-day event from March 27 through 30, at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, will highlight Taiwan’s expertise in intelligent urban solutions and trends.
“The opportunity and exchange in technology and science offers many possibilities for the Virgin Islands, especially at this time in our redevelopment,” Jackson said in a news release. “Business and government officials will echo to this forum that the Virgin Islands is open for telecommunications business and smart growth options in our rebuilding which will provide many options for economic development.”
The delegation is led by Anthony Weeks, managing director of St. Croix Economic Development Initiative, a macroeconomic and public policy think-tank involved in economic, business, and project development.
The trip comes as a follow-up to a visit to the Virgin Islands in January from a Taiwanese delegation led by Philip T.Y. Wang, director general of the Miami-based Taipei Economic and Cultural Office seeking business, commerce and cultural opportunities in the territory. The group also donated $20,000 to the government for toward hurricane recovery efforts. Wang extended an invitation to the summit this year.
At the Taipei summit, the goal is to seek out opportunities for smart approaches in rebuilding the infrastructure, transportation, schools, housing, and hospitals among other areas in the Virgin Islands with technology at the center, while ultimately creating a digital economy.
Who is paying for this?
Is this foreign collusion? I hope Weeks or whomever is lobbying for Taiwan in the Virgin Islands filed a foreign agent disclosure form with the US DOJ.