Styrofoam firm to build Polish factory

A Taiwanese styrofoam company will invest NT$945 million (US$29.3 million) to set up a factory in northwestern Poland to cash in on the growing demand for the packaging material in the East European country.

Liao You-chang (廖有章), chairman of Loyal Chemical Industrial Corp (見龍化學), the world's largest producer of styrofoam, said at a press conference in Poland on Monday that the styrofoam factory in Szczecin would be able to meet the needs of many electronics companies that have also set up operations in Poland.

The factory will also help feed the demand from infrastructure projects in the modernizing country, Liao said.

The EU plans to allocate 100 billion euros (US$146 billion) to assist Poland to improve its infrastructure by 2013.

Optimistic about the potential of the Polish market, Liao said his company decided to make the investment after finding that Szczecin had geographical and transportation advantages over other sites he had visited in Europe.

Poland has experienced rapid economic growth since its entry into the EU and has lured big multinational firms such as Samsung, LG, Toshiba and Sharp.

Taiwanese companies have also established operations in Poland, with Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) and Micro-Star International Co (微星科技) setting up service centers and TPV Technology Ltd (冠捷科技) putting up a display factory.