REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT AN ENTERPRISE IRELAND BUSINESS BREAKFAST, HYATT HOTEL, SANTIAGO
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT AN ENTERPRISE IRELAND BUSINESS BREAKFAST, HYATT HOTEL, SANTIAGO, CHILE, TUESDAY, 23 MARCH, 2004
Dia dhíbh ar maidin a cháirde.
I am very happy to be here with you in Santiago this morning on my State visit to this wonderful country. This is the first opportunity I have had to visit Chile and I have been overwhelmed by the warmth of the welcome I’ve received. I will take back with me some very fond memories of my time here as no doubt will the members of the trade delegation who have accompanied me on this trip. We hope of course they will also bring home new ideas and plans for increased commercial cooperation and partnership between Ireland and Chile.
I am glad to have the opportunity this morning to say a few words about the very considerable scope for expanding trade and business relationships between Ireland and Chile. Our two-way trade is comparatively small at the present time but a number of small yet significant initiatives have taken place in recent years to develop these relationships and we will hopefully increase our business and indeed other links in the years ahead.
This is the largest ever-Irish trade mission to Chile. It represents a cross-section of consumer, industrial and internationally traded services sectors and its objective is to promote Ireland as a world-class supplier of goods and services and allow Irish companies and their Chilean counterparts to strengthen relationships for the future. I know that the companies taking part are looking forward to a programme of productive and mutually beneficial meetings with official trade representatives and local business interests in Chile. Included in the trade mission are leaders in sectors of relevance to your economy, such as information technologies and telecommunications, financial, engineering and environmental services and education.
Chile is a fast-emerging economy, which has had considerable economic and trade growth in recent years as it has moved, like Ireland, from being agricultural and natural resources dependent, into a diversified technology economy.
Our two countries do have many things in common, especially in the economic area. Both of us have been involved in policies of economic development in recent years and have established strong, dynamic and diversified economies, which provide a basis for sustained growth in the future. And we both recognise that trade, education and the development of mutually beneficial business relationships are strong forces in building not just prosperity but the climate of international peace and understanding in which economic stability and prosperity flourish.
Over the past decade, Ireland’s surging economy and unprecedented growth have completed a dramatic transformation of the country that has attracted considerable international media coverage. Not so long ago, Ireland was a comparatively poor agrarian country with little industry, low growth and high unemployment and emigration. Now, it is a wealthy, high technology, export-led industrial economy – a trading nation with an increasingly global perspective.
Ireland took on the challenge of moving from economic insularity to openness. Our strategy in managing this change and, in the process, becoming one of the world’s most consistent growth leaders is, I know, of considerable interest throughout South America. Today, the Irish economy continues to be one of the leading economic growth performers in the industrialised world. Over the past five years, our average annual growth was more than three times that of the EU and OECD countries - one of the highest anywhere in the world. Even in the context of the present difficult global economic environment, Ireland’s projected growth over the next few years will still be well ahead of other OECD countries and maintain Ireland’s position as one of the world’s growth leaders.
We have with us this morning key decision makers who will help shape future business relationships and opportunities between your own organisations and many of Ireland’s most outstanding and experienced internationally trading companies. Our coming together is an occasion for informal networking – seeing old friends and meeting new ones, letting imagination, creativity and ambition do their best for both our countries.
The changing global marketplace has major implications for trade between Europe and South America and, specifically, between Ireland and Chile. Distance aside, we have all the elements for working more closely together. Our similarities are greater than our differences and from what I have heard from the companies here, we have a similar business culture of enterprise and innovation. We have also many business skills and competencies that complement each other very well in terms of selling into world markets.
A key objective of this trade mission is to highlight the product and service capability of Irish companies and to encourage mutually beneficial collaborative business ventures between our two countries. Irish companies are obviously keen to increase our sales here but there is clearly scope for Irish and Chilean companies to join forces in opening up new market opportunities for both, across South America and in other market regions where Chile is successfully doing business. Similarly, Ireland offers excellent opportunities to Chilean companies who are seeking business partnerships in product development, marketing, sourcing in the newly expanded, relatively wealthy European Union, soon to embrace some 450 million consumers.
Today’s successful companies think in terms of global customers and global opportunities, and the most effective way to achieve sales growth is through the creation of strategic alliances among export-led companies. I hope that this mission will lead to a greater number of such alliances between Ireland and Chile and fully explore the scope for linkages through investment, technology transfer, joint ventures, acquisitions, and other forms of joint marketing and trade relationships.
Ireland is honoured to hold the Presidency of the European Union as we welcome ten new Member States in a few weeks time, into an expanded Union of 25 States and 450 million citizens. In trade, Ireland's active development of markets throughout the European Union and our increased access to the fast growing economies of middle Europe such as Hungary, Poland and the other incoming members of the EU, makes it an ideal partner for joint ventures with companies from South America. Ireland has many companies, of proven excellence and performance, with the market access, contact networks and local knowledge to partner South American companies in Europe.
Our host today, Enterprise Ireland, is the trade and technology board of the Irish government, and is actively supporting both Irish companies and their international partners to build profitable business across the globe. They will be only too happy to facilitate strategic alliances of this kind.
The Governments of Ireland and Chile recognise that we both have much to gain in working together, in trade and in other areas. They have set the foundations and are building on a framework for future close co-operation. But you, the business community, are at the end of the day the hands of the work so may I wish each of you well in your existing and future business relationships. Between you may they bring prosperity and opportunity to the people of Brazil and of Ireland.
Go raibh maith agaibh. Thank you.