REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE BUSINESS BREAKFAST IN CANKARJEV DOM, LJUBLJANA THURSDAY
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE BUSINESS BREAKFAST IN CANKARJEV DOM, LJUBLJANA THURSDAY, 21 JUNE, 2001
It is a great pleasure to join you for this business breakfast, which brings together Irish and Slovene companies from a wide variety of sectors. Each of you here this morning has a common interest in strengthening the commercial and trade relationship between Ireland and Slovenia. I hope this occasion will enable you to do just that, and will also encourage the consolidation of a network of friendship and mutual support which will be of assistance to you in forging future business contacts.
In a way, of course, this trade mission represents a return visit, following the very successful visit to Ireland last year by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Slovenia. Twelve Slovenian companies from various sectors made that trip and I am happy to hear that not only was new business generated as a result but that non-commercial links are equally vibrant. In fact, I understand that the Director of the Trade and Investment Promotion Office, Mr Kovac, organises a St. Patrick’s Day celebration every year in Ljubljana, an occasion which, I suspect, does not focus entirely on business matters!
This is an exciting time for Irish companies to be doing business in Slovenia, and they have not been slow to take up those opportunities in areas as diverse as pharmaceuticals and healthcare, software, energy and consultancy services. The high calibre of companies taking part in this Trade Mission is evidence both of Ireland’s interest in strengthening our two-way trade relations and of the great potential for our two counties to do more business together. Indeed Irish exports to Slovenia have been steadily increasing since the mid-1990’s, and surged by more than 30% between 1999 and 2000. In the other direction, it is good to see that Slovenian exports to Ireland are also on an upward trend.
What Irish companies bring to the table is a background of dynamic growth, the experience of operating in the competitive global marketplace, a range of products and services that, in many instances, complement those of Slovenian industry and a strong commitment to forging long term partnerships with local interests. The companies taking part in this Mission reflect the level of innovation and expertise which have made Ireland a world-class supplier of products and services, in sectors from software to international financial services and consumer products.
These Irish companies represent the dynamism and energy of modern Ireland and our transformation in the space of a few decades from a producer of mainly agricultural commodities into a vibrant, export led economy with a portfolio of products and services that emphasise the newer technologies. The pace of change has been quite phenomenal: between 1994 and 2000, the Irish economy, as measured by real GDP, grew at an annual average rate of 9.1% compared to the EU average of 2.5%. What is exceptional about Ireland’s economic performance is that it has ranked number one in each of those six years.
Ireland, like Slovenia, is a small country. We both must look outwards in order to achieve the level of sustained economic growth needed to create jobs and steadily improve living standards. International trade is the driving force of the Irish economy today. While Ireland’s share of the world merchandise trade market is only around 1%, our exports, as a percentage of Ireland’s GDP, are one of the highest in the world. One of the most satisfying successes of the Irish economy has been new job creation. Over the past seven years, an extraordinary 400,000 new jobs have been created in the Irish economy – this in a total workforce of 1.5 million. Unemployment in Ireland has fallen from 18% six years ago to below 4% this year, the lowest figure in decades and close to full employment.
Slovenia, like many other applicant countries to the EU, has looked with great interest at the lessons to be learnt from the way Ireland has turned the dream of economic miracle from aspiration to reality in such a short space of time. There is no one single answer. Instead there is a complex interaction of crucial factors. High on the list of key factors is our strong commitment to education and to investing in our children’s future. Widened access to high quality education has helped us release our greatest natural resource, the brainpower of our own people and it has given us an enormous pool of highly-skilled and innovative young people. Another key ingredient has been the industrial relations harmony and stability achieved by the comprehensive social partnership programmes implemented from the end of the 1990s. Working in partnership government, workers, employers and farmers have provided a stable environment for the economy to grow.
We have been able to attract very significant inflows of foreign investment capital as a result of our benign corporate tax regime and a very successful proactive, national industrial development team which travels the world in search of opportunities for Ireland. We have at the same time developed and nurtured indigenous enterprises which have greatly benefited from the vote of confidence in Ireland demonstrated by the presence of more than a thousand international corporations and a new culture of openness and entrepreurship.
Ireland’s membership of the European Union has also, needless to say, been crucial to today’s success. A measure of the extent to which our fortunes have been transformed can be seen in the fact that when we joined in 1973, Ireland’s GDP per capita was around 60% of the EU average; today, it exceeds the average. From being a net beneficiary of EU funding, Ireland is likely to become a net contributor within the decade. However, it was not membership per se which magically transformed our economic and social landscape, but rather it was the way in which successive Irish Governments and the Irish people harvested the opportunities that membership offered.
Negotiations for accession by Slovenia to the EU are moving forward steadily and soon the Slovenian Government and business sector will also be in a position to avail of the opportunities of full membership of the Union. While the process of accession to the Union may sometimes seem to be primarily an economic and technical undertaking, we in Ireland know that its advantages and opportunities extend far beyond that. As a Union of equals, it offers small nations the opportunity to have their voice heard on the international stage. It holds the potential to generate a new sense of national confidence, a factor which has been crucial in Ireland’s economic, social and cultural renaissance.
This morning, however, it is the substantial opportunities for accelerated trade growth between Ireland and Slovenia, that is the natural focus of your interest. I know that Enterprise Ireland, the organiser of this trade mission, has developed a close one-on-one working relationship with both Irish and Slovenian companies who are interested in developing mutual beneficial business together. We look forward to an increasing number of alliances and partnerships between Slovenian and Irish companies, with the assistance of Enterprise Ireland and the Embassy of Ireland.
I wish all participants in the trade mission and their Slovenian partners the very best as you develop your business relationships. Our hope is that as we grow together in shared prosperity, we will grow too in friendship and in delight at each other’s unique story, unique identity.
It only remains for me, therefore, to thank you for your attention this morning and to wish you all every success in the future.