The Aviation Development Foundation yesterday evening elected Tony Fan (范志強) to represent the foundation as a board member of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC), which will soon convene a meeting to choose its new chairman.
Fan, 63, will replace former THSRC chairman Ou Chin-der (歐晉德), who resigned on March 5.
Ou, however, remains the company’s chief executive officer.
Fan has a doctoral degree in artificial intelligence from the University of Cambridge and is the chairman of Taiwan Futures Exchange, as well as being a board member of Chunghwa Telecom.
Prior to his current appointment, he was also the chairman of TransAsia Airways. He is one of the nation’s senior financial experts, the foundation said in a statement.
The foundation is a legal entity established by the government and is the largest shareholder of China Airlines.
The foundation became a board member of THSRC following its investment in the high speed rail operator in 2005.
The board of THSRC has 15 members, including nine from government agencies and six from the private sector.
The high-speed rail company is scheduled to hold a board meeting on Monday next week to select a new chairman, who will appoint a new CEO.
Ou indicated that he will step down after being replaced by a new CEO.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) had said earlier that the new chairman will be entrusted with the task of resolving the financial problems facing the high-speed rail system.
He must be able to persuade the major shareholders of the high-speed rail to reduce investment first, but then increase investment later, Yeh said.
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