Asia Briefing:Will the €175 million project dubbed "Shanghai on the Shannon", the China-Europe trade hub planned for Athlone, remain stuck on the drawing board or could it become reality?
The backers of the project, Athlone Business Park Ltd, were in Shanghai last week hosting a forum aimed at securing investment and described the reaction as very positive.The scheme is now led by former Roscommon county manager John Tiernan.
Last May, An Bord Pleanála gave permission for the first phase of the proposed China-Europe trading hub at Creggan, just outside Athlone in Co Westmeath. Once completed, the project is due to include three massive exhibition halls, nine smaller trade halls, and additional facilities totalling 102,348sq m.
“This is a permanent shop window in the target market area, where the customer can view the goods manufactured in China or southeast Asia, and delivered to the customer’s yard in Berlin or Milan. That is all about moving up the chain of customer support for Chinese goods,” said Tiernan in an interview in Shanghai.
The hub would be 14 times the size of the combined Liffey Valley and Blanchardstown shopping centres if completed.
It is privately backed and no State agency is involved in supporting the scheme. Financial advisers Deloitte have been working on the project since last summer, which allows the project access to Deloitte’s worldwide network.
The original Chinese backers were led by three unnamed individuals who visited Athlone in 2009 and met representatives of various local organisations. One was from Hong Kong, another was a successful businessman from Northern Ireland’s Chinese community, and the third was based in Britain.
“Our relationship with the original Chinese investors ran its course in early 2011. We undertook to continue the project independently. The Athlone promoters opted to continue with consultants we had on board, and we teamed up with Deloitte in Dublin and are able to access their worldwide network,” said Tiernan.
“We are now calling it the Europe-Asia Hub, but our main concentration is on China because we believe that is where the investor funding will ultimately come from.”
The one-day investment forum was attended by both private and Chinese government-owned enterprises.
Among those who addressed the gathering was Ireland’s Ambassador to China Declan Kelleher, and Shanghai Consul General Austin Gormley. The IDA and Enterprise Ireland were also in attendance.
Former Chinese ambassador to Ireland, Sha Hailin, who now has a leading position in the Shanghai municipal government, had helped co-ordinate the project.
“The day was mobilised through Dr Sha. It was very much about investing in Ireland and in Athlone. We have a couple of other lines going on through Deloitte contacts in other parts of China,” said Tiernan. “The guests were all companies likely to invest. We won’t know the full outcome until we’ve followed through with them.”
Deloitte’s Austin Currie said the project was about creating a consortium of investors who complement each other, adding that the possibility of a single investor could not be ruled out.
“There is no difference here why US companies would invest here or why Chinese firms would invest. It’s the same kind of principles. Educated workforce, low tax rate. We’re saying there’s no reason they can’t do the same thing,” said Currie.
Tiernan said there were questions asked about education and timescale. “But they prefer one-to-one meetings and we’ve had several of those,” he said.
News of the hugely ambitious proposals to develop an international trade hub in Creggan started to emerge three years ago.
The Taoiseach recorded a short video message for the event highlighting Ireland’s strengths as a location for Chinese investment, including our young, well-educated talent pool, our competitive, pro-business environment and our favourable tax regime.
“The message also makes reference to the fact that business-led initiatives, like the Europe-Asia Trading Hub project, can play a major role in boosting trade and investment between China and Ireland, and beyond,” the Department of the Taoiseach said in a statement.
The first phase includes 102,000sq m of exhibition space, consisting of three large showrooms and nine smaller ones, and underground parking for 1,300 cars. Plans for the completed centre provide for two hotels, a conference centre, railway station and other facilities. Estimates of the number of visitors it could attract vary between 20,000 and 35,000. Construction would create about 1,500 jobs.
