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Legislation to establish the Southeast Asia Economic Trade Office in Taiwan to advance Oklahoma’s interest in the county and region heads to the Senate.

House Bill 3166, authored by Republican State Representative Judd Strom of Copan, will facilitate increased economic relationships with Southeast Asia.

In a statement, Rep. Strom (pictured below) said:

“This office will lay the first brick in the path for businesses wishing to move here, promote Oklahoma businesses abroad, coordinate business outreach and produce promotional and educational materials that promote trade between the State of Oklahoma and Southeast Asia. The top trade categories for Southeast Asia are machinery, fuel, tech, aircraft and aeronautics parts and services and agricultural products. In 2020, the U.S. goods and services trade with Taiwan alone was worth an estimated $106 billion. They are currently our ninth largest trading partner, and we want more of those dollars to flow through our state."

HB 3166 was co-authored by Republican Rep. Logan Phillips of Mounds, who had this to say:

"As Oklahoma is trying to carve out a larger piece of global economic trade, it behooves us to create this office and establish increased diversity in our trade partnerships," Phillips. "We need to decrease our dependence on Chinese-made products, especially considering their lukewarm response to the current Russian assault on Ukraine. Now is an ideal time to diversify our trading partners in Southeast Asia and this office will allow us to do just that. There is already a huge market in Taiwan and other areas of Southeast Asia for American agricultural products, and the trade office will help open new markets for American-owned small businesses as well. The passage of this bill signals the start of an exciting period of economic development for our state, and I can't wait to see the results."

HB 3166 passed by a vote of 82-11 and is now eligible to be heard in the Senate.