Facebook Inc yesterday opened its new Taiwan headquarters at Nan Shan Plaza (南山廣場) in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義).
Taiwan is an important market to Facebook and the relocation reflects the company’s confidence in the future of the local market by laying down a marker for its long-term development here, Dan Neary, Asia-Pacific president at the California-based social media and networking service firm, said at the opening ceremony.
Facebook would continue to invest in Taiwan and looks forward to helping develop the many opportunities here as it seeks to connect to the rest of the world, Neary said.
Photo: CNA
Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), who also attended the opening ceremony, said he was happy that Facebook had delivered on its promise to expand investment in Taiwan and help accelerate development of the nation’s digital economy.
“We hope Facebook will pour more resources into Taiwan and help create more opportunities for the local industry as part of the country’s efforts to transform its digital economy,” he said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs would team up with Facebook to promote digital marketing, artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality, Chen said.
Since 2015, when Facebook established its first office in Taiwan, the company has seen its local workforce gradually increase and has achieved a lot by cooperating with the government, industry and social media platforms, the ministry said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on Facebook that she visited the new headquarters on Wednesday and was delighted to see the passion of its staff.
“Taiwan has the best talent and we are every bit as good as other nations, as evidenced by the role we played in producing the recent image of a black hole and in the development of Facebook,” she said.
“It is my mission and that of my administration to build a sound environment where young people are willing to stay in Taiwan and develop their strengths,” Tsai said.
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