Speech at a Business Breakfast hosted by Enterprise Ireland and IDA
St Regis Hotel, Beijing, 9th December 2014
Thank you Ambassador, for your introduction.
May I also thank Julie Sinnamon, of Enterprise Ireland, and Martin Shanahan, of IDA, for hosting this important event.
A Dhaoine Uaisle, A Aíonna Oirirce,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished guests,
I am delighted to join you this morning to celebrate and, hopefully, contribute to deepening the multi-stranded friendship and connection between Ireland and China.
Last evening we celebrated the cultural links between Ireland and China with a festival of literature, music and dance. This morning I would like to reflect on the dynamic, mutually beneficial trade and investment relationship that exists between Ireland and China.
This is my first visit to China as President of Ireland, and I am greatly impressed by the many signs I have seen in the short time since my arrival of the scale and success of China’s development. On behalf of the Irish people, I congratulate you on the remarkable achievements you have made in bringing prosperity to so many of your people over recent decades.
In Ireland, we have been facing significant economic challenges since 2008. I am happy to report, though, that we are now seeing signs of a recovery, which we are striving to make sustainable – one that is centred on the real economy and seeks to protect us from the ravages of uncontrolled speculation.
It is encouraging to note that growth of 4.7 per cent is forecast in Ireland for the year 2014, a remarkable turnaround from the recent past. Our public deficit in 2015 will be 2.7% of GDP, well within the EU guidelines. Crucially, unemployment has now fallen below 11% from a peak of 15.1% in 2012 and is continuing to fall.
Many of you here today are clients of Enterprise Ireland, our business and export promotion agency, or clients of companies supported by Enterprise Ireland. Thus you will know that export growth has been an important driver of Ireland’s economic recovery. Indeed Irish export levels are now at an all-time high; they are in fact significantly higher than their pre-crisis peak in 2007. This reflects Ireland’s connectedness to its many partners in the global economy, and it also points to the great potential there is for expanding and deepening our international connections.
My hope is that we will harness this great potential by fully drawing the lessons from the danger of speculative models of growth. This means, in my view, strengthening Ireland’s commitment to firmly ground its future economic growth in the real economy and in those areas where we excel: including farming and the agri-food sector, technology and education.
Trade exchanges between Ireland and China are intensifying. Two-way trade between Ireland and China was in the region of €8bn in 2013, making China Ireland’s leading trade partner in Asia. Service exports from Ireland to China are particularly dynamic, having expanded by 250% over the last ten years.
91 Irish companies now have an established permanent presence in China and I would like to avail of this occasion to salute their representatives who are here this morning. On average, one new Irish company establishes a permanent foothold each month in China.
This growth demonstrates, I believe, the enormous benefits which both of our economies can gain from cooperation and partnership. I am delighted to get the opportunity, during this visit, to see this partnership in operation. On Wednesday, I will be visiting the Research and Development Centre of Huawei – which is the largest Chinese employer in Ireland; and on Friday, I will be visiting the headquarters of Alibaba in Hangzhou and meeting with its CEO, Jack Ma.
This morning, I wish to mention just a few of the sectors where I believe there is the greatest potential for even deeper connections into the future.
No examination of the commercial relationship between Ireland and China would be complete without reference to our island’s oldest and most important indigenous industry: agriculture and food. Irish food exports to China have grown by 40% over the last year. Dairy, pork, seafood and beverages are at the heart of this growth. This achievement is first and foremost to the credit of our farmers, who have worked so hard to establish the good international reputation of Irish food produce, and whose focus on sustainable modes of production is recognised worldwide. Their work is also facilitated by our green island’s ample water resources and its natural abundance of good, nutritious grass.
Earlier this year, an inspection team from China’s Certification and Accreditation’s Authority, CNCA, visited Ireland to ensure our standards are in full compliance with China’s new food safety laws. I am pleased to say that our agri-food industry received 100% approval, adding to the existing global recognition of Ireland’s high food production standards. This was, once again, corroborated by an international report published last month, which ranks Ireland and Canada in joint first place for food safety among 16 OECD countries.[1]
Much of Ireland’s focus on innovation and the development of sustainable food production is informed by a concern we share with our Chinese friends – namely, how we can meet our current resources needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
A second important area for Ireland’s economy is that of technology. Much of the inward investment Ireland secured in recent years has been innovation-driven, technologically advanced and with the highest calibre of employment creation. Irish Small and Medium Sized Enterprises are also particularly dynamic in that field. Irish-developed technologies have thus been implemented throughout the world in applications as diverse as aerospace, medical devices, financial services, clean technologies, ICT and food production to name a few.
I am particularly struck by the remarkable achievements which the Chinese government and Chinese companies are also making in the technology sector. There are similarities between Ireland and China in that the technology sector is a pivotal one for both countries and a development priority for both governments. There is also great potential in the cooperation between our companies in that sector.
I am pleased, then, that this year has seen the establishment of the Ireland China Technology Fund – a $US 100 million jointly-managed fund, which has received joint investments by the Chinese Government through the China Investment Corporation, and the Irish Government, through the National Pensions Reserve Fund.
The first investments [amounting to over $35 million] have already been made by the Fund and it will give a significant boost both to Irish companies wishing to grow in China, and to Chinese companies with ambitions to grow in Ireland and in Europe.
The third area I wish to mention is that of education. Ireland’s economic journey over the last 50 years has been underpinned by a commitment to investing in education, which has created the largest population of young people with a third-level education degree among the EU’s 28 member-states.
Education links between Ireland and China are flourishing. This year, Irish and Chinese higher education institutions have more joint programmes, joint campuses, collaborative research agreements, student and staff exchanges and summer schools than ever before.
Currently, there are over 160 agreements in place between Irish and Chinese education institutions from all across both countries. There are 5,000 Chinese students enrolled in Irish institutions, many of whom subsequently work in the very companies that account for our growing trade and investment with China.
It is for Ireland a great distinction to have been selected as “Country of Honour” at China’s premier annual Education Expo in 2016.
These are just some of the areas where our trading relationship is thriving, but it is clear that the future for our wider economic relationship is bright. And it is also true that this trading relationship will be grounded in the deep friendship that unites our peoples and on a relationship of trust and respect between two countries who are crafting their modernity but are also conscious of their ancient cultures.
I would like to conclude by saying what a great pleasure it is for me, this morning, to speak to companies that are at the heart of the mutually beneficial relationship between our two countries. You, ladies and gentlemen, have a very important role to play in exploring and developing these shared interests for the benefit, not just of your businesses, but of both countries and peoples. I wish you all continued success, success which will only serve to bring our two peoples even closer together.
Now, before our Ambassador has to interrupt a Head of State, I will let you start your breakfast!
Go raibh míle maith agaibh – Xie Xie dajia.
[1] Cf report published on the 21st November 2014 by the Conference Board of Canada’s Centre for Food, in collaboration with the University of Guelph’s Food Institute. This report was aimed at measuring Canada’s food safety performance against that of 16 peer OECD countries.