Samaniego attends Taiwanese business summit
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego will speak at the 2025 Smart City Summit & Expo in Taiwan next week.
UTEP Economics Professor Tom Fullerton says Foreign Domestic Investments from countries like Taiwan are becoming more common.
"One of the things that's going on in the background in terms of investments (in the United States) is all of the efforts to increase artificial intelligence capacity," Fullerton said.
Fullerton added that El Paso is an ideal location because of its proximity to Phoenix and Albuquerque where computer chips are being produced.
"The AI phenomenon right now is leading to more direct foreign investment in the United States than could just be accounted for by near shoring alone," Fullerton said.
Borderplex Alliance CEO Jon Barela will join Samaniego on the trip and hopes to bring more jobs to the region.
"There are over 19 Taiwanese companies currently operating in the Borderplex region employing over 10,000 individuals," Barela said. "We want to continue that friendship and momentum with their foreign direct investment and we're optimistic that we'll be able to bring home some new jobs."
"At the Expo, I will present on how local governments are utilizing A.I.," Samaniego explained during Monday's El Paso County Commissioner's Court meeting. "I will also join the Borderplex Alliance to meet with Taiwanese organizations about economic development opportunities in El Paso County."
Over 3,000 Taiwanese people live in El Paso County, and over 30,000 live in Chihuahua, Mexico, Samaniego said on Monday.
"It's been almost five years I've been working with Taiwanese delegations," he added. "Recently they've been very excited about our county manufacturing. They've got an operation that will open in Socorro, so we've been meeting regularly with them."
According to the Smart City Summit & Expo website, the conference will include "international city leaders, stakeholders, buyers, business partners, and exhibitors to explore the opportunities with digital and green transformation in a wide variety of smart city industries."
During Monday's meeting, El Paso County Commissioner for Precinct 3 Iliana Holguin asked for clarification on who was offering to donate funds for the Judge's trip.
El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez explained that the Taiwanese Council offered to fund some of the trip's expenses and the Borderplex Alliance also offered to provide additional funding to offset some of the cost.
County Commissioners voted unanimously at the meeting to approve Item 13A to "allow the County Judge to accept any donations for the purpose of travel to Taiwan to meet and discuss economic opportunities in El Paso County the week of March 14-21, 2025."
