Taiwan APEC Envoy is TSMC Chairman Morris Chang

UNCLAS TAIPEI 003738 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE PLEASE PASS USTR STATE FOR EAP/RSP/TC, EAP/EP USTR FOR ALTBACH USDOC FOR 3132/USFCS/OIO/EAP/WZARIT TREASURY FOR OASIA/LMOGHTADER TREASURY ALSO PASS TO FEDERAL RESERVE/BOARD OF GOVERNORS, AND SAN FRANCISCO FRB/TERESA CURRAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON APEC TW SUBJECT: Taiwan APEC Envoy is TSMC Chairman Morris Chang ¶1. On October 30, President Chen Shui-bian appointed Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) Chairman Morris Chang as his envoy to attend the upcoming APEC Leaders Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, November 18-19. ¶2. Chang, 75, is the founder of TSMC, the world's first and largest silicon foundry. TSMC is listed on both the Taiwan and New York stock exchanges, and its 2005 sales totaled NT$266.6 billion (US$8.1 billion at an exchange rate of NT$33 per US$). In 1994, he founded Vanguard International Semiconductor Co with capital of US$655 million. Vanguard is the 26th largest semiconductor firm in Taiwan, and its 2005 sales amounted to NT$11.4 billion (US$345 million). Chang has been Chairman of TSMC and Vanguard since their founding. TSMC is the only Taiwan semiconductor company with a fabrication SIPDIS plant in China. ¶3. Chang was recruited by Taiwan authorities in 1985 from General Instrument Corporation in the U.S. to serve as President of Taiwan's officially funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). In 1988, he was promoted to ITRI Chairman and served in that position for the next six years. He founded TSMC in 1987 and served as Chairman of TSMC on a concurrent basis until he left ITRI in ¶1994. ¶4. Chang obtained his BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During a 25-year career at Texas Instruments (TI),he earned a Ph. D. in electrical engineering at Stanford. He joined TI in 1958 as an engineering manager. In 1964, he became TI's general manager of germanium transistors and silicon transistors. He was named integrated circuits manager in ¶1966. He established TI's TTL as the standard logic family and TI as a leading integrated circuit company in the world. In 1972, Mr. Chang became group vice president in charge of the semiconductor group, where he managed the largest semiconductor operations in the world with 25,000 employees and 16 plants in 11 countries. ¶5. Chang's achievements reached beyond the semiconductor field. From 1978 to 1980, he was TI's vice president in charge of customer products. Under his leadership, the company introduced the innovative Speak & Spell, which became an instant success with many children and parents. From 1981 to 1983, he was a senior vice president responsible for quality, education and productivity at TI, and launched many successful programs in those areas. ¶6. He resigned from TI in 1983. In 1984, he joined General Instrument as its president and chief operating officer. WANG