Our History

Institute for International Development & Studies, Inc.

History of Institute for International Development Studies, Inc. (IIDS)
Institute for International Development & Studies, Inc. (IIDS) was established by Taiwanese Americans, Michael C. Chang, Su-Feng Liu, Liu-Hsiung Chuang, and Kan-Hua Young, on December 15, 1989. The
group of professionals started IIDS, a non-profit organization, to promote international economic, business, educational and technological cooperative relationships among countries through shared research, studies, training, and information collection.  The founders specialized in international trade, rural and agricultural development, information system design, and economic development of third world countries. Subsequently, IIDS became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and has continued to maintain the tax-exempt status.
On March 14, 2020, IIDS unanimously voted to merge with Rockville-Yilan City Corporation to strengthen their mission to promote people-to-people exchanges between Taiwanese and Americans.

History of Rockville-Yilan City Corporation (RYCC)

Rockville-Yilan City Corporation was formed by a group of Taiwanese Americans to promote Taiwanese culture by creating cultural exchange opportunities for the people of United States and the people of Taiwan.  Their vision was to build greater mutual understanding between the Americans and the Taiwanese as well as to celebrate their shared values of democracy and freedom. Their mission was to strengthen the bonds of free men with the common pursuit of world peace and of the protection of human rights and dignity through people-to-people diplomacy.

The grassroots movement began on February 4, 2017, when a group of Taiwanese Americans discussed about the possibility of a sister city relationship between Yilan City, Taiwan and Rockville, Maryland (proposal). The group approached the City of Rockville and Yilan City simultaneously with the idea to establish a new sister city relationship between the two cities. Members of the group traveled to Yilan City to share with the Yilan City government and its residents about the vision and purpose of the sister city relationship. Shortly thereafter, the Mayor of Yilan City delivered an extended invitation letter to the Mayor of Rockville to visit Yilan City, Taiwan and to open-up dialogue about a possible sister city relationship.

On August 8, 2017, the group of Taiwanese Americans incorporated the Rockville-Yilan City Corporation (RYCC) to build structure and organization for their mission as well as to demonstrate the group’s commitment and dedication to the Taiwan Sister City proposal. The founding members were: Hung-Bin Ding, Ray-Yuan Chuang, Li-Ching Chen, Minze Chien, Kuan Lee, Jesse Meng, Matthew Hsu, I-Shiuan Lee, and Jonathan Lin. The proposal to establish a sister city relationship between Rockville and Yilan City was formally submitted to the Rockville Sister City Corporation (RSCC) in October 2017.

On February 7, 2018, RSCC approved to explore the establishment of the new sister city relationship with Yilan City, Taiwan. In April 2018, RSCC and RYCC organized a meet and greet event for RSCC members to meet with the local Taiwanese American community at the Rockville Glenview Mansion. The following month, in May 2018, RYCC hosted the first Taiwan Bubble Tea festival in the Greater Washington area at Rockville Town Square with the assistance from IIDS with fundraising and collecting donations. That same month, members of RYCC traveled to Yilan City to recruit additional assistance from family and friends in Taiwan to help facilitate the dialogue with the Yilan City government. By June 2018, the Mayor of Rockville delivered a response letter to the Mayor of Yilan City welcoming the proposed idea for a sister city relationship with Yilan City, Taiwan. Meanwhile, the members of RYCC continued to travel to Yilan City to discuss developments and updates on the Taiwan Sister City proposal.

In March 2019, RYCC assisted RSCC in organizing a Rockville delegation to Taiwan, which included the President of RSCC, the Secretary of RSCC, and three other RSCC Directors. The success of the delegation resulted in the immediate follow-up delegation from Yilan City in May 2019, which coincided with RYCC’s second annual Taiwan Bubble Tea Festival. In recognition of RYCC’s success in promoting Taiwanese culture to the city of Rockville, the City proclaimed the “first week of May 2019 as Taiwan Culture Week”. The City also recognized the Yilan City delegation.

On June 3, 2019, Rockville Mayor and Council unanimously voted to establish Rockville’s second sister city relationship with Yilan City, Taiwan, and on July 8, 2019, a resolution was passed. On July 15, 2019, the Yilan City Mayor traveled to Rockville with a 12-member delegation to attend the signing ceremony on July 17, 2019. The Yilan City Mayor presented the city of Rockville with a congratulatory letter from the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-Wen on the success of the establishment of the new sister city relationship between Rockville and Yilan City.

Following up with the Yilan City Mayor delegation, the Richard Montgomery High School Jazz Band traveled to Taiwan to perform at the Yilan International Arts Festival in October 2019.

On March 13, 2020, RYCC unanimously voted to expand their mission to encompass all Taiwan Sister City relationships in the United States to strengthen the bonds between the Americans and the Taiwanese, and agreed to merge with IIDS.