Ma wants economical inauguration ceremony

To hold down costs, Ma’s camp has decided to ask Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to limit the number of visiting representatives they send to attend the ceremony, and foreign dignitaries will generally not be put up in presidential suites.

In another move to restrain costs, the accommodations for foreign guests will also be centralized at one or two hotels.

Countries that are not Taiwan’s allies are also welcome to send representatives, but will have to foot the bill for their air fares. Taiwan will handle their expenses after arriving in the country.

A total of 10 countries have expressed interest in attending the ceremony, although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has yet to send out invitations, Lo said.

But Ma will bypass the Foreign Ministry and personally invite visitors from the United States and Japan to the ceremony.

Ma called on his staff to economize on inauguration ceremony expenses at a preparatory meeting Thursday night, Lo said.

The preparatory team is led by John Feng, a foreign affairs adviser and former diplomat, who will be responsible for the arrangementsandcoordinateprocedureswiththeincumbent administration.

Lo said Ma’s camp will try not to use the entire NT$90 million (US$2.99 million) budget earmarked by the Presidential Office for the event.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email