In a chat with TOPICS Associate Editor Alex Myslinski, Dan Silver talked about how AmCham evolved between his two terms as chairperson, the growing importance of resilience and business continuity, and the people who sustain the Chamber’s work.

Dan Silver served as AmCham’s chairperson in 2016 and again in 2024-2025, having previously served as vice chairperson, co-chair of the Medical Devices Committee, and founding co-chair of the Public Health Committee. A longtime healthcare executive in Asia, Silver is general manager of Boston Scientific Taiwan and senior commercial director for ICTx in Asia Pacific. He has been closely involved in the Chamber’s work on regulatory coherence and Good Regulatory Practice and helped coordinate the 2014 Regulatory Coherence Policy Framework with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). He is also a founding director of the Taiwan Advanced Medical Technology Association.

Below are excerpts from the discussion, edited for brevity and clarity:

How did changes in the U.S.-Taiwan relationship between your two terms as chairperson affect AmCham’s approach to advocacy and its messaging?

The entire geopolitical context changed — moving from one administration to the next amid a broader shift in the global order — while the world underwent tremendous political and technological transformation.

In the earlier part of that period, there was much more discussion of shared values, and in 2016, we were talking about a much more diverse array of shared interests. Chips were discussed, and maybe even TSMC, but it was nothing like their place in the U.S.-Taiwan dialogue today.

That dynamic is still unfolding. You get a lot of people coming in who are learning about Taiwan for the first time, often without much prior context. That is where the rise of semiconductors has been a great boon for Taiwan because it has captured the attention of so many people in Washington. However, it has also, in some ways, flattened previously wide-ranging conversations into an almost one-dimensional view.

The policy landscape has also evolved considerably, creating a different set of priorities and thinking about AmCham’s role. The great advantage we have today is the number of delegations coming through. If you think about what a Doorknock really is, we go to Washington to have conversations with small groups or individuals in positions of influence, and that is essentially what happens when delegations come in.

How has AmCham developed more effective ways to make its case to government and other stakeholders?

What strikes hardest is data. The Business Climate Survey (BCS) is probably our most prominent instrument for showing that, with a strong response rate of around 50% each year. Its consistency gives readers a huge amount of data and clear year-by-year comparisons, making it figure more prominently in the press than almost any other instrument.

Data can also counter the one-dimensional view of Taiwan by demonstrating its role as a central node in interconnected industries. Collecting that information and putting it into simple numeric form allows us to broaden the discussion when talking to key influencers.

How did resilience and business continuity emerge as priorities for AmCham, and what lessons did the Chamber draw from AmCham Ukraine’s experience in strengthening business preparedness?

Taiwan finds itself at the center of extraordinary change, and when that change brings pressure or uncertainty for business, the American corporate community has always played a role. Looking at that, the thought was: as the region continues to evolve, what can or should AmCham do to help companies plan? By 2024, it was clear that Ukraine had lessons to offer other countries, and we wanted to start with those who had already shown the way.

We organized a webinar where AmCham Ukraine shared how three member companies approached resilience and business continuity planning during a period of major disruption: Microsoft, IHG, and McDonald’s. It was an eye-opener. IHG showed the importance of providing a secure place for visitors, McDonald’s provided a degree of normalcy and routine, and Microsoft talked about how it maintained cybersecurity resilience under difficult conditions. Those lessons reinforced that in every scenario you can think of there is a role for member companies in strengthening preparedness.

From there, we started the Strategic Resiliency Committee, or SRC, which is led bv former AmCham Taiwan chairperson, president, and standing vice chairperson Andrea Wu. The idea is to think beyond the day-to-day of our industry needs or competitive interests and about what we, as critical parts of the fabric of Taiwan, can do to help each other prepare for changing circumstances and unexpected events. Companies that have been here for 30 years or more employ as many as tens of thousands of people, and you cannot have whole-of-society resilience without the foreign-invested community taking part.

What does maintaining continuity within AmCham require, particularly during periods of leadership transition?

All the work of the Chamber — handling up to four visiting delegations a week, putting on 250 events throughout the year, and keeping 1,200 members across different industries and personalities happy and moving forward — is performed by the almost invisible force of the AmCham staff doing unbelievable work. The staff deserves the very best leadership possible, because when things are working on the inside, everything on the external side is that much more successful. During periods where we had leadership ups and downs, the Board made being there a priority, checking in and making sure the team knew they had our full support. Having a staff that is knowledgeable and capable needs to be valued because we want to keep that institutional memory alive and working for the benefit of the Chamber.

AmCham’s NextGen program is a prime example of creating a valuable link between its present and future. It is an awesome way for younger talent to be exposed to new things, talk to others in their cohort, and bring those ideas back into their companies. Crucially, these are the people who, in 10 or 20 years, are going to be on the AmCham Taiwan Board and leading committees, keeping things moving forward for the 100th anniversary. There can be a profound return in getting these future leaders to see the value of circling back around.

Looking ahead to the 75th anniversary, what is your outlook on the Chamber’s role going forward, and what developments from your chairmanship stand out as particularly significant?

We are arriving at another pivotal moment on our 75th anniversary. Ten years ago, asking if the World Trade Organization will even exist in a decade would have been an impossible question, and now it is routine. Taiwan’s role in the global economy, in East Asia, and in technology supply chains is more important than ever. Can we even talk about AI without Taiwan? The biggest questions of our day increasingly come back to Taiwan, and AmCham’s role going forward from this 75th anniversary should be bigger than it has ever been because there is so much at stake.

Going back to 2016 and earlier, one of the consistent themes we heard about in committee discussions and in the White Paper was an opportunity to strengthen Taiwan’s regulatory development process. We saw potential for Taiwan to enhance its attractiveness as an investment destination by adopting more structured stakeholder engagement.

We worked with AdvaMed and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to bring the principles of Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) into the Taiwan policy conversation, and Taiwan responded very positively to this dialogue. During my term in 2016, they extended the notice-and-comment period to 60 days through executive order.

The concept behind GRP is straightforward: by opening the regulatory development process to broad public consultation — not just limited expert groups — regulators gain access to diverse perspectives and practical insights before finalizing new rules. This inclusive approach helps create clearer, more practical regulations developed with transparent public input. Transparency builds confidence among both domestic companies and multinational corporations, which then encourages greater investment and fosters an environment where innovation can flourish.

Since then, GRP has remained a part of trade dialogues like the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.

For me, that is the kind of contribution AmCham should continue to make: bringing the experience of our members into the policy process and making sure their knowledge can inform the decisions that will matter for Taiwan’s future.