Taiwan opens Phoenix office to support Arizona chip sector

Taiwan opened a new representative office in Phoenix on Oct. 5, giving semiconductor companies and other Taiwanese businesses a permanent local point of contact as investment expands around TSMC’s north Phoenix campus and Amkor Technology’s packaging project in Peoria.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, or TECO, is Taiwan’s 14th office in the United States. It will provide consular services in Arizona and New Mexico while helping Taiwanese companies establish and operate Arizona facilities, according to the Arizona Commerce Authority.

The opening creates a local channel for companies working through investment, workforce and supply-chain issues. That role is relevant across the West Valley, where TSMC’s multibillion-dollar manufacturing expansion near Loop 303 is drawing suppliers and where Amkor is building an advanced semiconductor packaging and test campus in Peoria.

A new agreement on startups, workers and supply chains

At the opening, the Arizona Commerce Authority and Taiwan’s National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Association signed a memorandum of understanding focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and workforce development.

The agreement calls for collaboration between startups and small and midsize companies, investor and business matchmaking, talent and research partnerships, and closer supply-chain integration. It does not commit public money or announce a new factory. The significance is institutional: Arizona and Taiwan now have a Phoenix-based office and a formal framework for connecting firms, workers and research organizations.

Gov. Katie Hobbs, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and economic-development officials from both sides participated in the opening.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in July that the Phoenix office was being established in response to growing investment in semiconductors and related supply chains. The ministry said the office would serve Taiwanese residents and businesses in Arizona and New Mexico.

Trade has grown alongside the chip industry

Taiwan became Arizona’s second-largest trading partner in 2025, according to the Commerce Authority. Two-way trade totaled $21.2 billion. Arizona exported $4.5 billion in goods to Taiwan, a 243% increase from the previous year, while importing $16.7 billion.

The state agency said Arizona-Taiwan trade has increased 780% since 2020. That period overlaps with TSMC’s decision to build its first U.S. advanced-chip campus in north Phoenix and the arrival or expansion of dozens of semiconductor suppliers.

The new TECO office follows two earlier bridge-building efforts. Arizona opened a trade and investment office in Taipei in 2023, and Taiwan opened a trade and investment center in Phoenix in May 2026. TECO adds diplomatic and consular functions to that economic-development network.

What the office means for the West Valley

The office opening does not change the construction schedule at TSMC or Amkor. It does, however, give Taiwanese companies a nearby government contact as they evaluate sites, hire workers, manage visas and consular needs, and build relationships with Arizona agencies and suppliers.

Those needs are increasingly spread across the region. TSMC says its Arizona plan now includes 10 semiconductor fabs, two advanced-packaging facilities and a research center. Amkor’s planned Peoria campus would add domestic packaging and testing capacity, with phase 1 production expected in early 2028 and a second phase planned through 2029.

For West Valley cities, the practical question is whether the office and the new business agreement help more suppliers, research partnerships and workforce programs take root west of Interstate 17. The agreement names supply-chain integration and talent development as priorities, but it sets no city-specific projects, job targets or delivery dates.

West Valley Post is tracking major construction milestones, suppliers and related development in the TSMC and West Valley Semiconductor Supplier Tracker.

Featured image: TSMC Fab 21 under construction in Phoenix in November 2023. Archival photo by Hunter Trick via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. The image does not depict the new TECO office.