Richardson signs Friendship City pact with Taiwan's Keelung

Richardson Mayor Amir Omar and Keelung City Mayor Kuo-Liang Hsieh signed a Friendship City memorandum at Richardson City Hall on June 24, giving Collin County’s international business hub a new official link to Keelung, Taiwan’s largest natural port in northern Taiwan. Taiwan’s TECO Director-General Yvonne Hsiao in Houston witnessed the signing.

The agreement is meant to promote friendship and mutual benefit through educational, cultural, arts and economic exchange, a formula that could matter most for Richardson schools, universities and tech businesses if city leaders turn it into student visits, research ties, trade contacts and arts programming. Richardson officials established the relationship in front of Richardson City Council members, city staff, a Keelung delegation and members of the Greater Dallas Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce.

The ceremony included remarks from both mayors, an exchange of signed agreements, commemorative gifts and official photos. Earlier in the day, Keelung delegates attended a welcome meeting and toured Richardson’s Public Safety Campus, a sign that the relationship was framed around more than a handshake and a photo line.

Omar used the moment to cast Richardson as an international city. “Richardson is a community built on global connections, cultural diversity and collaboration,” he said. That description fits a city of roughly 118,000 to 119,000 residents that has built much of its identity around business links and a diverse local economy, while Keelung’s official population data places it in the mid-400,000s.

Friendship City relationships are less formal than sister-city ties, but Sister Cities International says they are still official international partnerships when the highest elected or appointed officials from both communities sign an agreement. Richardson’s own description of Friendship City agreements says they help communities identify shared interests and build the expertise, partnerships and resources needed for ongoing international programming.

The Keelung pact also extends Richardson’s Taiwan connections. The city signed a separate memorandum with New Taipei City on Sept. 30, 2025, covering education, culture and economic cooperation. With the Greater Dallas Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce already active in business, education and cultural exchange since 1992, Richardson now has a second Taiwan-facing channel that could move the relationship beyond ceremony and into concrete programming for local institutions and employers.