Taiwanese delegation in U.S. seeking aerospace supply opportunities

Taipei, Sept. 4, 2003 (CENS)--A Taiwanese delegation yesterday participated in a Sino-American aerospace supplier conference held in the United States to seek more business opportunities for the island's aerospace industry.

Several local aerospace makers of the Taiwanese delegation, led by C.Y. Chen, director of Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), met with such big international aircraft makers as Bell Helicopter and Lockheed Martin as well as and their sub-suppliers. Among the local makers are Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC), Jui Li Enterprise Co. Ltd., Drewloong Precision Inc., Masbe Corp., Ta Yih Industrial Co. and Becker Electronics Taiwan Ltd.

According to MOEA's Committee For Aviation and Space Industry Development (CASID), AIDC, the largest aircraft maker in Taiwan, and its satellite plants including Jui Li (machining parts), Masbe (aircraft engine parts), and Drewloong (machining parts), were in talks with Bell Helicopter over the issue of possible cooperation in contract production or parts supply for Bell's new-generation helicopter models.

A CASID official said that Bell is actively planning to further expand cooperation ties with Taiwan aerospace makers to cut costs and elevate its overall competitiveness. According to the official, Bell negotiated with several Taiwanese suppliers of aircraft frame and engine parts and is planning to transfer the production or assembly of its new helicopter models to the island in the future.

For the first time, Bell also released some avionics business opportunities to Taiwan companies. Becker Taiwan, a joint venture between Becker of Germany and Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), has expressed strong willingness to win possible business.

Meanwhile, Ta Yih, the largest auto lamp producer in Taiwan, according to CASID, is expected to win the joint-development opportunity released by Luminator, the world's largest manufacturer of transportation lighting, in aerospace light-emitting diode (LED) lighting products. As Ta Yih is already a partner of Luminator (contract supplies some spot light to the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter), the committee said that the Taiwanese firm is expected to win some OEM/original design manufacturing (ODM) orders from Luminator.

Lockheed Martin is also expected to release some aircraft-maintenance business to Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC) and Air Asia Co.

IDB officials said that the Sino-American aerospace supplier conference is expected to help win more businesses for not only the 12 local companies in the Taiwanese delegation but also the whole aerospace industry in Taiwan. The bureau also suggested local companies more actively develop their aerospace businesses as more and more international aircraft makers including Boeing and Airbus have been considering to move their production to nations in the Asia-Pacific region or procure more parts from suppliers there, so as to cut costs amid the sharply-shrinking aerospace market after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.