REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LUNCHEON GIVEN IN HER HONOUR BY THE KOREAN INTL TRADE ASSOC.
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LUNCHEON GIVEN IN HER HONOUR BY THE KOREAN INTERNATIONAL TRADE ASSOCIATION
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Korean International Trade Association, ladies and gentlemen,
I thank you, Mr. Chairman and the members of the Korean International Trade Association, for the very kind invitation to this splendid lunch.
Some years ago an Irish economist, reflecting on the recent remarkable success story of the Irish economy, coined the phrase the “Celtic Tiger” to describe the new Ireland that was emerging from decades of low growth and high unemployment. I need hardly tell an audience of Korean businessmen where he got the inspiration for his insight.
The story of Ireland is remarkable. Like Korea we live close to big and powerful neighbours. In our case we lived next door to the world’s original source of industrial power but it was a closeness that brought little benefit to our country. Instead our young were drained away through long-term emigration; unemployment and poverty were the norm and new investment was hard to attract. What a transformation we have witnessed in today’s Ireland as we evolved from being one of the poorest countries in Western Europe to one of the most successful.
Today our population is growing for the first time in a century and a half; the tide of emigration has been reversed; our young people have great prospects on their own doorsteps and people come to us from all over the world - attracted by the fact that Ireland is a land of prosperity and opportunity. I am often asked to explain why the Irish economy has done so well and as you will know better than most there is no one single explanation but there are a number of very significant factors in our success. Some things like globalisation and buoyancy in the world’s economy helped create the context in which we prospered but it is the domestic decisions we took which allowed us to capitalise on the moment. Like Korea, we saw a good education as the key to harnessing our people’s genius and revealing their potential. Successive Irish governments invested heavily in education and training, with a particular focus on science and technology and so we grew the highly educated, flexible, dynamic workforce which would attract inward investors and become the seed corn of a new entrepreneurial spirit among our people.
Ireland is of course an enthusiastic member of the European Union and the only English speaking country inside the Eurozone. Membership opened up a landscape of new markets to our producers of goods and services and it also made us very attractive to foreign investors from Asia and the United States, who wanted to trade within the European Union and to access its 500 million consumers.
Ireland outreached assertively to foreign investors offering and continuing to offer one of the most innovative and beneficial corporate tax environments in the EU. A corporation tax rate of 12.5% applies to trading profits in all sectors, including manufacturing and international services. Another factor attractive to investors is the social contract model operated in Ireland through which Government, trade unions, employers, farmers, community and voluntary sectors all regularly sit around the table and agree a package which makes for stability in wages, taxation and spending.
The scene was set for the transformation of Ireland’s economy in the 1990’s and it was undoubtedly led by the 1,200 foreign companies that decided to locate operations in our country. They in turn helped generate a hugely dynamic native entrepreneurial business and industrial sector which contributes considerably to Ireland’s ongoing success. The companies which have chosen Ireland as their base - and this includes a small number of Korean companies - are involved in a wide range of activities from manufacturing to e-Business activities in sectors as diverse as electronics, software, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, financial and international services. But as with Korea, it is the phenomenal success of the information technology sector in particular that has played a crucial role in Ireland’s economic progress. This sector now accounts for one quarter of our total exports. In real terms, Ireland, a country of a mere four million people, is the largest exporter of software services in the world.
But success and prosperity simply create an endless appetite for more, for bigger and for better and as a republic of equals we have a strong ambition to ensure that these times of growth and prosperity are extended to everyone - so our challenge is to continue attracting investment at higher value levels and equipping our people for the enormously competitive world of global trade that they are now part of and dependent on. The key requirement today is for high value-added foreign investment, requiring high skill levels; in other words, innovation-oriented rather than production-oriented investment. That means we have to focus on knowledge and in particular on research.
The setting up of Science Foundation Ireland in 2001 is a good example of the Government’s commitment to improving competitiveness and ensuring Ireland stays situated at the leading edge of the global economy. The Foundation aims to help Irish research institutions to recruit scientists from around the world and build co-operative programmes with industry in the target areas of biotechnology and information and communications technology.
Outward investment from Ireland is also an increasingly important factor in our economic development and Irish business is becoming ever more international. By the year 2000, Irish companies had acquired foreign assets valued in excess of €16 billion. Today we are the fourth most important source of investment in the United Kingdom and the ninth in the United States and of course our eyes are also on opportunities in Asia. In 1999 the Irish Government developed an Asia Strategy. The first phase of that Strategy saw some remarkable successes. In the five years between 1999 and 2004 trade exports to the area nearly doubled. The second phase of the Asia Strategy will be launched by the Irish Government in April with Korea as a priority country particularly in the high–tech and education sectors.
I have learned a lot about Korea since I arrived here and I am sure that I will know more before I leave, as will those who have accompanied me. We will return to Ireland with friendships made here and with a fresh respectful curiosity about this beautiful land and its inspirational people. I hope that the future holds many more opportunities for Ireland and Korea to get to know one another and to work together to our mutual benefit. Ireland is a very effective and proven gateway to Europe just as Korea is a gateway to Asia. And of course not all life is business. We have enjoyed the chance to experience Korean cuisine, culture, music and scenery and I hope more Koreans will have the chance to enjoy Ireland’s excellent educational facilities, golf courses, its legendary horseracing, magnificent green countryside and our welcome which I hope will be as warm as the Korean welcome we have been privileged to receive here.
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen thank you for your attention.
KAM SA HAM NI TA (Thank you).