TSMC Again Ranks No. 1 on Top 50 Corporate Citizen Rating

Taipei, April 7, 2008 (CENS)--Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is rated as the top company by the CommonWealth Magazine in its large enterprise category of Top 50 Corporate Citizen 2008 survey, marking the company holding the top honor on the survey for the second year.

The magazine, which is considered to be one of the most influential Chinese-language periodical publications in Taiwan, did the survey for the first time last year, examining surveyed corporations on their achievements in corporate governance, corporate pledge, social engagement and environmental protection. Silicon-foundry giant TSMC won the top place on the first survey.

H.Y. Lin, chairman of the government-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) who headed the panel of the judges in the 2008 survey, said Taiwan's hi-tech companies are playing crucial roles in global supply chains and have become industrial benchmarks after long dedications to making them compliant with international codes.

TSMC leads all surveyed enterprises on the 2008 list in corporate governance and corporate pledge fulfillments. Also, the company is the only Taiwanese enterprise to be selected as a constituent stock of the Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index for its pledge to cut greenhouse emission by 50% in 2010.

In the major league competition, Delta Electronics is ranked as No.2 best player, with its environmental-protection fulfillment scoring the second-highest credit. Chunghwa comes fourth this year, followed by Lite-On Technology and AU Optronics (AUO), in order.

In medium-size enterprise category, Sinyi Realty Inc. is rated as the No.1 winner this year. The company is the only company of its size class with a score that could have cracked the "large enterprise" top 10 for its hiring independent board members to set up an auditing committee that strengthened the workings of the board. Everlight Chemical Industrial is recognized as No.2 enterprise in this category this year for its outstanding environmental-protection practice.

ING Antai is the best enterprise in the survey's foreign enterprise category. Bayer, HP and Intel are also listed among the top 10 of this category.