Bankruptcy filed for Youth Camp
The Consumers' Foundation (消基會) yesterday visited the Taipei Court to apply for a court ruling to declare the debt-ridden Youth Camp Health Group (佳姿健康集團) bankrupt.
The foundation presented required documents of 18 victimized members of the ill-fated fitness-center chain, which closed down its last location on May 20 due to financial straits.
As the company rejected requests to refund its 250,000 members, the foundation decided to offer voluntary services to pursue legal actions on behalf of the consumers.
According to the Bankruptcy Law (破產法), if a bankruptcy ruling is made, the court will appoint a management committee to formally take over Youth Camp, allowing all its creditors to take part in discussions of how the firm's assets should be distributed.
Overseas investment urged
The nation's central bank said it is encouraging local companies and individuals to invest in overseas assets to "grasp economic resources."
George Chou (周阿定), who is the director general of the central bank's currency department in Taipei, said in a press conference yesterday, "As long as it helps economic development, we encourage people to invest overseas."
The remarks came as the New Taiwan dollar rose to a one-week high against the US dollar after foreign investors bought a net NT$13.4 billion (US$428 million) of Taiwan shares yesterday.
Overseas investments could be purchases of financial products, real estate, or mergers and acquisitions by corporations, Chou said.
NEC to buy more Taiwan goods
Japan's computer giant NEC Corp is expected to increase its purchase of Taiwan goods by 10 percent this year from a year ago, the DigiTimes Web site reported yesterday, citing NEC Taiwan president Kakimura Shinichi.
Via a research and development center it set up in Taipei last year, NEC will procure more than US$2.9 billion worth of goods from Taiwan this year, compared to US$2.66 billion last year, according to DigiTimes.
The Japanese firm's procurement consist of components and finished products covering semiconductor, information technology, telecommunications, and networking industries, the report said.
Taiwan accepted by APEC group
Taiwan was formally accepted as a member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Engineer Framework yesterday, an official of the Cabinet-level Public Construction Commission (PCC) announced, adding that membership will facilitate local engineers to obtain APEC certificates allowing them to work in the region.
As a member of the framework, Taiwan is eligible to certify local engineers' international practice capability in accordance with regulations governing independent authorized bodies for the APEC engineering register, the official noted.
An APEC engineer should complete accredited programs, gain at least seven years of practical experience, have been in charge of project practice for at least two years, and have maintained a continuous professional career, according to the PCC.
NT dollar trades higher
The New Taiwan traded higher against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.092 to close at NT$31.323 on the Taipei foreign exchange market yesterday.
Turnover was US$666 million, up from US$626 million the previous day.
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