New Samsung-Sony venture sets sail

S-LCD Corp., a joint venture of Samsung Electronics of Korea and Sony of Japan, was launched yesterday. A founding ceremony for S-LCD was held at its Tangjeong plant in Asan, South Chungcheong province. The capital of the thin film transistor-liquid crystal display screen producer was set at 2.1 trillion won ($1.8 billion). Samsung Electronics owns 50 percent plus one share of S-LCD and Sony owns the rest. Chang Won-kie, vice president of Samsung Electronics, was named the chief executive of S-LCD, while Keiji Nakazawa, group executive officer of Sony, was appointed the chief financial officer. S-LCD is planning to produce pilot large liquid crystal display screens for television sets in the second half of the year, and to start selling the product next year. It is planning to produce 60,000 screens a month to supply both Samsung Electronics and Sony in equal proportions. The company will get a tax credit on resident and corporation taxes for seven years and a 50 percent tax cut for the following three years, because the plant is in an area designated as a foreign investment zone. by Lee Hyun-sang