Taiwan privatises state aircraft maker AIDC

Taiwan's sole aircraft maker AIDC was given the green light to list on the local stock exchange Monday, as part of a government drive to privatise large state-owned enterprises. The application for Aerospace Industrial Development Corp to begin trading shares was approved by the Taiwan Stock Exchange during a committee meeting, the company said. Company spokesman N.J. Lin told AFP that the aircraft maker, which has reported profits for seven years in a row, would continue to benefit from robust global demand for commercial aircraft. "Looking ahead, we have faith in the company's operations, as current strong demand is expected to remain unchanged for several years," Lin said. AIDC posted a net profit last year of Tw$1.3 billion ($42.7 million) on revenues of Tw$23 billion, according to AFP.