Aerospace Industrial Development Corp, the Taiwanese aerospace manufacturer, has applied to be listed on the country’s Stock Exchange as part of a government drive to privatise large state-owned enterprises. Shares in AIDC are set to be traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange from the fourth quarter of this year.

There has been media speculation about privatisation plans since the mid-1990s, when the firm produced the last of its Indigenous Defence Fighters, because the Taiwanese air force decided to adopt the US-made F-16 fighter jet.

The firm has since become a supplier of commercial aerospace parts, producing components for several aerospace groups, including Boeing, Airbus and Sikorsky, while carrying out maintenance work for the air force.