REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A BORD BIA FOOD SEMINAR SHANGHAI FRIDAY 18TH JUNE 2010
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A BORD BIA FOOD SEMINAR SHANGHAI FRIDAY 18TH JUNE 2010
Dajia xia wu hao - Good afternoon.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Dia dhíbh a chairde inniu. It is my great pleasure to welcome each one of you and to officially open Bord Bia’s Food and Drink Seminar. The sharing of food is part of a culture of welcome and friendship and so it is no surprise that as the friendship between Ireland and China grows stronger and stronger, food plays a central role.
More and more of Ireland’s leading food and drink companies are establishing bases in China. They see that doing business in China is fundamental to their future and they understand that effective relationships can only be developed through long-term partnerships.
The people of Ireland were gifted a green and fertile island and we have over generations carefully grown a food and drinks industry which is renowned world wide for the excellence of its products. Many of you here today have firsthand knowledge of that industry and you are already familiar with Ireland’s uncompromising commitment to food safety in farming, processing and production. We rank among the best in the world, delivering the safest, finest food to millions of consumers in 170 countries across the globe - every day of the week, every week of the year.
Ireland is home to some of the world’s best-known drinks brands; it is the largest net exporter of beef in the northern hemisphere; it is the centre of dynamic dairy, ingredients and consumer foods industries, and it is a major exporter of seafood, pork and lamb. All told, we exported over €7 billion (60bn Chinese Yuan) worth of food and drink last year, which is a lot of global food links bringing a bit of Ireland into many homes.
The food and drink industry is one of Ireland’s most important indigenous industries. We have a mild, temperate climate; a rich, unspoilt landscape and modern farming practices, built on centuries-old traditions and a fundamental respect for the environment. We have invested in research, traceability, logistics and marketing to add value to these premium raw materials and craftsmanship. We are a highly educated and innovative people and as a result we are uniquely poised to deliver not just today’s food solutions but also to imagine the future and to provide quality food products for future generations as our planet’s growing population, climate change and environmental challenges place intense new demands on world agriculture.
China and Ireland both put a high premium on food quality, safety and innovation. We both have knowledge to share and have worked well together since the landmark Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation in 2000. Other significant agreements and protocols have followed. As recently as May, a very successful meeting between Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Mr Brendan Smith and China’s Minister responsible for food import/export controls, Mr Wang Yong, [as well as a meeting with Vice Minister Niu Dun of the Ministry of Agriculture] pointed the way to deepening cooperation in agricultural trade. We now have a strong base to build from and there is encouraging momentum in the growth of Irish food and drink exports to China, primarily due to Ireland’s world-class capability in the production of infant formula and milk powders. This capability in the valuable dairy sector is one of the key things which attracts world pharmaceutical and biotech industries to our country.
In the coming years, China will have an increased import requirement for many of the things that Ireland is good at producing - very fine dairy, meat, seafood and beverage products and our know-how in consumer food production, for the level of sophistication demanded by consumers here and elsewhere, is also growing relentlessly. This is an industry in which we shine and we intend to keep on shining - building on our good-food tradition and making ourselves a leading innovation hub in Europe and a centre of the bio-economy. So not only do we have and will continue to have great products and services to sell but we are also a hugely attractive country for investment in food and agriculture. We hope to interest even more Chinese business partners and investors in the opportunities which Ireland offers and which are enhanced by our highly skilled and educated work force, low corporation tax, relaxed business culture and direct access to the European marketplace
An inspiring example of the global scale of Irish ability in this sector is to be found here at Shanghai’s marvellous World Expo 2010, where one small Irish brewing company has gained the privilege of hosting one of the major catering pavilions here. This clearly demonstrates that our renowned high quality in the food and drink sector can be scaled up to showcase excellence on a world scale.
Expo is ultimately about faith in the future. Food and drink are an integral part of that future wherever we are in the world. Ireland is synonymous with quality food and drink and we hope that quality Irish produce will continue to be an important part of China’s future. This
seminar is an important place in which we can not only showcase Irish produce but at the human level grow the deeper friendships, partnership and trust on which all good business rests.
It has been a pleasure to join you here today and I hope you will enjoy the rest of the seminar.
Xie Xie - Thank you