BMW Taiwan yesterday became the latest sponsor of the Taipei Summer Universiade, with the company pledging to provide the Taipei Universiade Organizing Committee with 200 vehicles in its 7 Series line.
The fleet of BMWs will be tasked with transporting international sports delegation leaders and International University Sports Federation officials to and from sports venues, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) told a news conference.
BMW Taiwan has not only offered to loan the vehicles, but it will also pay for the license fees, fuel taxes, compulsory liability insurance and highway tolls, bringing the total amount of sponsorship to NT$170 million (US$5.6 million), Ko said.
Photo provided by the Taipei City Government
The mayor arrived at the news conference in one of the German maker’s vehicles.
Asked about his impressions of the car, Ko said: “I felt an electro-static shock when closing the car door, which probably means I am not meant to ride in such a car.”
He added that he could not afford a car of such quality.
The committee had planned to recruit volunteer drivers, but considering the price of the cars, it decided to contract the job out to professional chauffeurs, Ko said.
BMW Taiwan vice president Wu Han-ming (吳漢明) said counterterrorism is a widely discussed issue worldwide and BMW’s 7-series are well fitted for the purpose.
The vehicles can continue driving for 150km even if their tires were ruptured by sharp objects, and their built-in GPS systems allow them to be quickly located in the event of a hijack, Wu added.
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Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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The Taipei City Reserve Command yesterday initiated its first-ever 14-day recall of some of the city’s civilian service reservists, who are to undergo additional training on top of refresher courses. The command said that it rented sites in Neihu District (內湖), including the Taipei Tennis Center, for the duration of the camp to optimize tactical positioning and accommodate the size of the battalion of reservists. A battalion is made up of four companies of more than 200 reservists each, it said. Aside from shooting drills at a range in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the remainder of the training would be at
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