Meet And Greet For Taiwanese Officials Being Hosted At Balter On Wednesday

ST. CROIX — The St. Croix Economic Development Initiative (SEDI) and the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a meet and greet reception and networking event this week for Tapei Director General Philip T.Y. Wang and a delegation of other Taipei government officials and leading business representatives, according to a release issued Monday.

The reception, to be held Wednesday from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at St. Croix’s balter Restaurant, is themed “East Meets West: A Caribbean-Asian Pacific Food Infusion”, and will also be the first food and wine tasting event for 2018 presented by The Caribbean Food Network & balter.  The organizers promise live television coverage, delicious food and great music, according to the release.

SEDI Managing Director Anthony Weeks said the reception will provide an opportunity for Virgin Islands officials and St. Croix business leaders to visit with the Taiwan dignitaries and speak about economic development for the territory, especially needed now to boost recovery efforts from the two recent devastating hurricanes.  “A little over a year ago I had the privilege and opportunity to be hosted as a guest of Director General Philip T.Y. Wang of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami to discuss economic ties and business opportunities between Taipei and the USVI,” Mr. Weeks said. “I was eager to return the hospitality and at the same time provide this opportunity for local business owners to exchange ideas with internationally recognized leaders in their respective industries.”

Accompanying Director Wang will be Deputy Director Sara Chen and Consul Claire Chen as well as Taiwanese expatriate business leaders Peter Yu, president, and Suely Yu, CEO, of US-1 America; Edward Cheng, vice president of TM Group, and Allen Tsai, general manager of Lung Meng USA.

The Yu’s US-1 America, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is currently one of the largest export distributors of all video games and related accessories for the Caribbean as well as Central and South America. Tsai’s Lung Meng USA was founded 1991 in Miami, and provides top quality plastic machinery such as blown film extruders, flexographic presses, various types of bag making machines, PVC pipe, etc. Cheng’s TM Group is a collaboration of technology-focused companies based in Miami. Its subsidiary, TM Cell, distributes mobile phones and accessories to carriers and retailers in Latin America and the Caribbean. TM Cell offers AT&T voice and data services to customers around the world. The number of handsets sold by TM Cell in the year 2016 was 6,102,350.

St. Croix Chamber President Kimberly McCollum says the Chamber is happy to support such events as Wednesday’s meet and greet co-hosted by Chamber members, SEDI and balter Restaurant. “Their vision is in keeping with our organization’s mission to achieve economic prosperity and job growth. We support initiatives that encourage the retention and expansion of existing business and the attraction of new businesses,” Ms. McCollum said.

Mr. Weeks said SEDI has several major economic development initiatives being implemented to create new business start-ups, jobs and investment opportunities, including the Silicon Island Exchange (SIX), Caribbean-Americas Single Economy: “Making the C.A.S.E”, Start-Up VI and JumpStart Tourism (the Caribbean Food Network and the Alexander Hamilton and Caribbean History Museum are programs of SEDI’s JumpStart Tourism project).

There will be a cover charge at balter’s Restaurant of $23.16 to sample food and wine. balter will be preparing an infusion of Caribbean-Taipei type recipes showcasing St. Croix as a culinary vacation destination. Mr. Weeks recommends avoiding delays at event entry by purchasing tickets at http://www.sharingmarketplace.com/caribbeanfoodnetwork .

For more information contact Weeks at 914.574.1213 or at [email protected]