THE Industrial Development Board has said it is confident that the Taiwanese textile company is committed to its £157 million investment in Northern Ireland, which finally got the go-ahead from the European Court last week.
In 1994 Hualon was offered over £60 million in grant assistance to help it set up its plant at Corr's Corner, on the northern outskirts of Belfast, making synthetic fabrics for low-cost European clothing manufacturers. But the plan ran into serious objections from the British Apparel and Textile Federation, which said that the grants being offered to an overseas company to set up in a region of the UK amounted to unfair competition.
The objections were overruled by the European Commission following a nine-month investigation, but this decision was in turn challenged in the European Court by an alliance of European textile producers, even though Hualon has always maintained that it would merely be replacing imports from the Far East rather than threatening the future of European manufacturers.
Meanwhile, Hualon's plans were further thrown into doubt following a major stock market scandal involving four executives who worked for a Hualon subsidiary, and IDB board member Jennifer D'Abo resigned over what she said were "unsatisfactory answers" to her questions about the group. Ms D'Abo subsequently called for a public enquiry into the project.
Last week's European Court ruling clears the way for the construction of the plant to get under way. The director general of the British Apparel and Textile Federation, Mr John Wilson, said that he was disappointed by the decision, but declined to say whether or not he would appeal.
There have been suggestions that the two-year delay has persuaded Hualon to take its factory elsewhere. However, Hualon public relations director Mr William Lue described the decision as "splendid news", and said that the company would only require the formal ratification of its agreement with the IDB to take its plans further.
IDB chief executive met Hualon executives in Taiwan just over a week ago, a meeting which apparently encouraged the agency to believe that Hualon will still go ahead with the project. But it stressed that it would not take the project any further until it had completed full discussions with the company.
"We already have an agreement with the company," a spokesman said, "but we want to take into account its current thinking. We hope to have an indication soon as to its future plans."
