Facebook launches office in Taiwan

2015-02-02

The Taiwan office of Facebook Inc. opened Jan. 29 in Taipei City, reaffirming the U.S.-based social media service’s commitment to further developing the local market.

“We extend our heartfelt welcome to Facebook,” Vice Premier Chang San-cheng said at the launch ceremony. “This office bears testament to the importance of Taiwan in the company’s global portfolio.”

Situated in fashionable Xinyi District, the state-of-the-art office employs 20 staff and is headed by Facebook North Asia Director Jayne Leung. Its main task is to assist homegrown firms in better utilizing the website’s marketing potential, while carving out a greater share of the NT$14 billion (US$450 million) local online ad market.

Facebook Asia Pacific Vice President Dan Neary said Taiwan has 15 million active Facebook users per month, with 12 million accessing the service daily. In addition, its high smartphone penetration rate makes the country one of the company’s most alluring markets in Asia, he added.

Neary said the office will also coordinate seminars and workshops on key technology trends impacting app and software development, as well as providing a wide array of related support services. “The onus is on us to reach out and work with local outfits in quickly expanding their social network footprints.”

Other global Internet businesses launching operations in Taiwan include U.S.-based search engine Google Inc. in 2006, Japanese messaging app firm Line Corp. in 2013, online shop Rakuten Inc. from Japan in 2008 and mainland China’s trade website Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in the same year.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=226984&CtNode=413)