REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT AN ENTERPRISE IRELAND BUSINESS BREAKFAST BEIJING
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT AN ENTERPRISE IRELAND BUSINESS BREAKFAST BEIJING TUESDAY, 15TH JUNE, 2010
Dajia Zao Shang Hao
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Martin and I are delighted to be with you in Beijing this morning for this business breakfast, which is hosted by Enterprise Ireland, the trade and technology board of the Irish Government. I would like to welcome our Irish companies, who are building their business in China, and I extend the traditional Irish hundred thousand welcomes, céad míle fáilte, to them and especially to their distinguished Chinese guests.
Twelve years ago saw the very first Irish trade mission to China. It was clear, even then, that China had moved into a central position, not just as the principal engine of growth in Asia, but also as a key player in global trade. Out of that mission came the stimulus for the establishment of the Irish Government’s Asia Strategy, which identified China as the priority market for increased trade and business links, investment, tourism, awareness building, and cooperation in research and development. As a result, there has been a rapid and continuing acceleration of trade between our two countries. We have as a consequence also come to know each other better, understand each other better, learn more of each other’s fascinating heritage, traditions and culture.
There are now some 115 Irish enterprises with their own offices in China, a figure that has almost tripled in the past five years. These companies mainly provide products and services in software and IT, medical and the life sciences, aviation and other high-technology sectors and significantly they have created employment for several thousand Chinese people. All are dynamic, innovative Irish companies that are leaders in their particular area of specialisation.
Education, we know, is one of the most important sources of linkages between Ireland and China. Ireland’s long tradition as a provider of quality education is backed by the high standards of its education services, internationally recognised qualifications and the worldwide reputation of its training. Our universities, institutes of technology and other educational establishments are present in China, developing close relationships with their Chinese counterparts and providing valuable links between our students, academics and researchers.
We have been working hard to build a strong awareness and a positive image of Ireland in China. Our similarities are much greater than our differences and we have in many respects a similar business culture, centred on enterprise and innovation. We have many business skills and competencies that complement each other very well in terms of selling into world markets.
Irish-owned companies have become highly successful players in the competitive global marketplace and the export-led growth that they generate is a fundamental part of the recovery underway in the Irish economy. We have an established reputation for excellence in many diverse fields and we are rapidly moving toward a knowledge-based economy, built on innovation and technology, and substantially shaped by the emergence of strong technology-led and export-focused Irish owned companies, which have become world leaders in their respective industries.
There is substantial scope and potential for Ireland in developing business with China. Already Irish companies have been performing very well here and their positive experiences have raised the profile of Ireland as a world-class supplier of products and services to the Chinese market. Specifically, I would like to highlight the product and service capability of Irish companies currently doing business here and encourage mutually beneficial collaborative business ventures between our two countries. We see international partnership as a key component of our economic strategy, and Irish companies are increasingly involved in sourcing relationships, strategic alliances, joint ventures, product/process licensing and collaborative R&D with international partners. Enterprise Ireland exists to facilitate those linkages. It has four offices in China, which shows how serious we are in Ireland about our current and future commercial relationship with China.
I will be going to visit Expo in Shanghai on Thursday, which is designated as the National Day of Ireland. I’m told that the Ireland Pavilion is already hugely popular with visitors to Expo and I’m sure that the secret to its success has something to do with the growing friendship between the Irish and Chinese peoples. The business and commercial ties between us build those friendships in practical and sustained ways. They create opportunities to get to know, understand, trust and rely on one another and at the same time to enhance the mutual prosperity for which our people long. I look forward to the economic and cultural ties that link our two countries becoming even stronger in the years ahead. They are best made hand to hand, heart to heart as you are doing here today.
Xie Xie
Thank you