Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Randy Abrams with Credit Suisse.
Randy Abrams - Credit Suisse
Good evening. This afternoon, Morris, you laid out that new ventures could potentially be a NT$10 billion to NT$15 billion opportunity for things like solar and LED and other ventures. Could you talk about your investment commitment or CapEx plans? And do you expect to go through aggressive acquisition strategies, or do the growth organically?
Dr. Morris Chang
This is a capital plan on new businesses?
Randy Abrams - Credit Suisse
Yeah, capital plan and acquisition strategy.
Dr. Morris Chang
Well, we really don’t have concrete plans at this point yet. Recall that Rick Tsai has been in his new job as pushing new businesses and forming new businesses for only about a month-and-a-half, and he has been -- during this period, he has been actively looking and studying both the solar and the LED fields but primarily the solar cell fields.
Now in fact, I may say that he has requested NT$50 million of capital just as a starter and without any specific purpose in mind yet and I have already approved that. Of course, my approval is subject to the board’s confirmation of my approval but we don’t have -- this is just for -- the $50 million is just for starter and it’s also at this point for unspecified purposes and for unidentified purposes. But we want to have it ready just in case we have any opportunity. This is an exploratory effort.
Now, I do expect that in the future, the new businesses will include acquisitions but again, it’s too early to identify any concrete projects at this point.
Randy Abrams - Credit Suisse
Okay, and there’s been a bit of warming in cross-trade relationships between China and Taiwan. Could you talk about your perspective on if some of the restrictions on below 0.18 and 12-inch are loosened, do you have the motivation or incentive to expand in China or is your view to prioritize some mega-fabs in Taiwan and China will still be pretty modest in terms of investment?
Dr. Morris Chang
We have very ambitious plans for the Chinese market, not so much as a manufacturing base but we have very ambitious plans for expanding our sales in China.
Now, if a manufacturing -- if we do have a manufacturing base there already, of course, it’s relatively mainstream, mature technology and also it’s 8-inch fab, therefore the new direction that the government, the Taiwan government has already given, which of course will allow basically M minus one or M minus two generation technologies in China, I think is a very welcome move by us. We welcome that very much.
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