Business briefs　

Share sales raise NT$90 billion
The government has sold its shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and state-run Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) to overseas investors, generating NT$90 billion in revenues over the past six months, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday, citing Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全).

The government also plans to release additional NT$70 billion-worth shares in Chunghwa Telecom and NT$20 billion-worth shares in China Steel Corp (中鋼) overseas in the next six months, Lin said in the report.

Lin made the comment in response to growing public concerns over DPP administration's recent initiatives which would increase government expenditures by raising the monthly pension for elderly farmers from NT$3,000 to NT$4,000 and reducing tuition fees for students from low-income families.

Corning to expand Facility
Corning Inc, the world's largest maker of fiber-optic cable for telecommunications networks, said it will spend US$180 million to expand a liquid crystal display glass-making facility in Tainan.

The three-phase investment will more than double the capacity in some parts of Corning's facilities in the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park (台南科學園區), the company said in a statement. The expansion will be complete by the end of next year, with production starting in the second quarter of next year.

Corning is seeking to tap into increasing demand in Asia and elsewhere for LCD glass, which is used in some televisions and notebook computers. Corning has sold money-losing businesses such as a fiber-optic parts unit to focus on operations such as LCD products.

CETRA to open Seoul office
The China External Trade Development Council (CETRA) will set up an office in Seoul in September to help Taiwanese businesses tap the South Korean market, Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬), director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade said yesterday.

At the invitation of Chul Pyung-chin, president of the Korea Importers Association, Huang attended an annual seminar for chief executive officers in South Korea. He said bilateral trade cooperation between the two nations will be even closer after CETRA sets up its Seoul office.

Bilateral trade reached US$6.3 billion in the first half of the year and is estimated to reach US$13 billion for the year, Huang said.

Eva Air to launch Hanoi flights
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) will begin operating service four times a week between Taipei and Hanoi from Sept. 17, it said in a statement.

It will operate Boeing Co MD-90 aircraft for the service to the Vietnamese capital, the airline said. Eva now operates 11 weekly flights to Ho Chi Minh city.

Thai frozen chicken on the way
Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl, Thailand's biggest publicly traded producer of frozen chicken, received permission from Taipei to ship its product to Taiwan for the first time.

Bangkok-based Charoen Pokphand said exported 18,143 tonnes of chicken to Taiwan on July 15, said Teerasuk Urunanon, executive vice president of Charoen Pokphand unit Bangkok Produce Merchandising Pcl. It expects to ship as much as 27,215 tonnes a year to Taiwan, the company said in a statement yesterday.

All imported chicken previously came from the US and Canada.

NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded higher against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.019 to close at NT$34.398 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$857 million.