ADVANCED Aerodynamics & Structures (AASI) has denied local reports that the Taiwanese Government has abandoned plans to fund a venture to produce the US company's Jetcruzer single-turboprop business aircraft in Taiwan (Flight International, 6-12 December, 1995).
Reports suggest that the plans have been dropped after the Government failed to attract local investors. Long Beach, California-based AASI, acknowledges that a major investor in the US company, the chairman of Taiwanese car manufacturer Yue Tyan Machinery, has withdrawn from the Taiwan venture, but maintains that the plans remain in place.
AASI senior vice-president Gene Comfort says that company chief-executive Dr Carl Chen is scheduled to visit Taiwan in mid-January to "wrap up" the agreement with Taiwan's economics ministry.
Plans call for the ministry to provide $20 million in loans to help fund production of the pusher-propeller Jetcruzer in Taiwan, beginning in 1998.
Source: Flight International