International Business / The Pacific

Texas Instruments in Venture to Build Chip Plant: Texas Instruments Inc., its Taiwanese joint venture and Thai entrepreneur Charn Uswachoke will build the $200-million plant to test and assemble memory chips. The new company will be called Alpha Memory Co. Dallas-based Texas Instruments will own 33% of the venture, and Uswachoke will take 51%. The remaining 16% will be held by TI-Acer, a joint venture between TI and Taiwan-based Acer Inc. Construction on the plant near Bangkok, Thailand, will begin early next month. Production is scheduled to begin in the second half of 1997. The plant initially will have the capacity to test and assemble 150 million units a year.