REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT AN ENTERPRISE IRELAND BUSINESS BREAKFAST SHANGHAI
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT AN ENTERPRISE IRELAND BUSINESS BREAKFAST SHANGHAI, FRIDAY, 18TH JUNE, 2010
Dajia Zao Shang Hao
Good morning everybody
Ladies and gentlemen, Martin and I are delighted to be with you this morning in Shanghai, one of the world’s most exciting cities at the best of times and made even more so by Expo 2010. I warmly welcome representatives of Irish companies doing business in China, and their guests who honour us by their presence.
Yesterday was Ireland’s National Day at Expo and my first chance to see the Ireland Pavilion and the Expo site. What a wonderful experience that was, the Ireland Pavilion – a great showcase of Ireland and the Expo site, a massive success story for Shanghai. Ireland was one of the first countries to say yes when invited four years ago to participate in Expo 2010. We did so, knowing that this dynamic city would do a brilliant job of hosting the first Expo to be held in a developing country and because we believe firmly in developing the relationship between Ireland and China.
This morning’s business breakfast, hosted by Enterprise Ireland, is another welcome and important opportunity to reiterate Ireland’s keen interest in furthering trade with China and in developing the personal relationships and partnerships which are the foundation of successful business links.
The good news is that trade between Ireland and the People’s Republic of China is flourishing. Five years ago less than forty Irish companies had offices in China, today that number has grown to 115, thanks to the increased volume of high-level political and business visits between Ireland and China and the now regular trade and education missions. We now know just how much we have in common with business cultures that are forward-looking, with a strong focus on enterprise and innovation, and of course we both have our roots in ancient sophisticated cultures which are part of the world’s cultural heritage patrimony. Our people have the chance to know each other better in this generation than in any other, thanks to the thousands of young Chinese who study in Ireland, the Chinese who live in Ireland and the Irish who live in China, the tourists we exchange and the general accessibility of information about each other which the world of the internet has opened up to us.
We have a lot to offer each other. Ireland has a reputation for technology-led and export-focused companies and there are a number of broad sectors where there are clear opportunities for Irish companies to develop and expand their sales in China. The most promising sectors include the information and telecommunications technologies, education and training, environmental and engineering, the life sciences and medical devices, aviation, electronics, industrial machinery, and food and drinks products and I’m delighted that this morning’s event has brought together key figures from these industries to explore the potential of trade links between Ireland and China.
Ireland has many attractions – our membership of the European Union offers access to that market of half a billion consumers. Our status as the only English-speaking member of the Euro is another advantage. We have a solid reputation for excellence in many spheres and a strong focus on internationalisation and innovation driven by cutting-edge technology. Our young people are highly educated, flexible and hard-working. Our business culture is designed to attract and hold inward investors. We aim to make people welcome and the best testimony to that is to be found in the educational links between Ireland and China which have flourished for many years and keep getting better year on year.
Irish universities and other education institutes now have in place some 35 joint programmes with partner Universities in China, a huge leap forward from the time of my first visit to China in 1997 when I was setting up the first link between my then employer – the Queen’s University of Belfast and a university in Szenzhen. Ireland is now well known throughout China as a first-rate world education and training centre with international qualifications available in a huge range of academic disciplines and professions.
I am particularly pleased to welcome the representative of Harbin Institute of Technology here today. I have long-standing connections with Harbin IT and am delighted that Mr. Tiedong Yang, who is an engineering graduate of Harbin and a Gaisce Gold Medal winner (the highest honour awarded by the Irish President), is currently studying for his PhD at the Dublin Institute of Technology. His success is something both Ireland and China can take a shared pride in and it exemplifies what we can achieve when we work comfortably and coherently together.
The fact that Enterprise Ireland has four offices in China shows just how strong is Ireland’s commitment to this rapidly growing market. Irish companies working with Enterprise Ireland increased their sales in China by 35% last year and I congratulate our EI colleagues on a level of development and progress that defied the problems in the global market place and allows us to believe the very best is yet to come. The future successes that Ireland and China will create together are largely dependent on the people in this audience. Thank you for playing your part in this process. I hope it will bring you prosperity and a new level of confidence in the growing relationship between Irish and Chinese businesses, Irish and Chinese people in the years to come.
Xie Xie
Thank You