TAIPEI: The economic affairs authorities promised yesterday that pleas from three DRAM manufacturers for help with restructuring will be decided by the end of the month.

An economic affairs department spokesman said a meeting to review the matter will be held later this month.

The government-backed Taiwan Innovation Memory Co (TIMC), Powerchip Semiconductor - Taiwan's largest DRAM maker prior to the economic downturn - and the lesser-known, Kaohsiung-based Taiwan Creative Lab all applied for public subsidies, meeting a late-October deadline set by the government.

Although Taiwan Creative Lab is a one-man company and not well-known, it also will be screened based on the same standards as the others, an Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) official said.

The bureau is still consulting with the review committee's members to set a date for the review, with the official saying "the sooner the better," but he expected it would be held in the second half of the month.

TIMC has requested NT$5 billion ($154 million) in aid, while Powerchip is hoping for NT$8 billion to establish a new flash memory company, Taiwan Flash Co.

But the official declined to reveal how much Taiwan Creative Lab had requested.

Economic affairs chief Shih Yen-shiang said last month that the government will invest a maximum of NT$10 billion in an innovative memory chip company, but only if such an enterprise can secure core technology and help Taiwan stay competitive in the field.

In July, the government said it had allocated NT$30 billion in state funds to help DRAM producers restructure their operations, which were plunged further into debt by the global economic slump that ravaged Taiwan's export-oriented economy earlier in the year.

According to principles unveiled by the economic affairs authorities in August, applicants' proposals would have to include plans for developing technology with foreign firms, as well as strategies such as mergers and acquisitions.

Taiwan's government tried to launch Taiwan Memory Company (now called Taiwan Innovation Memory) earlier this year to restructure the industry. It was to consolidate Powerchip, ProMOS, and Rexchip Electronics and incorporate technology from Japan-based Elpida Memory.

But that venture's fate remains uncertain, as some question its need with the market picking up again.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 11/05/2009 page2)