Taiwan ministry launches US$205,000 Facebook account

The Mainland Affairs Council, the ministry responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of policies between Taiwan and Mainland China, has announced that it would set up a Facebook account to promote government policies at a price of NT$6 million (US$205,332).

The project was put out to a public bid for a company to take charge of all the work, including web site maintenance. According to the Ministry, an outsourcing contractor has been selected.

Although Lai Shin-yuan, Minister of MAC, now has a personal Facebook page, MAC said that is limited in terms of connection and participation. An official Facebook site for the ministry is necessary, along with its own maintenance personnel.

The official Facebook page will be launched once the contract is finalised, said MAC, and Lai’s Facebook page will be linked with the ministry’s.

Earlier this year, Malaysia Tourism Ministry spent RM1.8 million (US$600,000) on the development and maintenance of six Facebook pages for tourism event campaigns.

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