Remarks by the President of Ireland, Mary McALEESE at Business Breakfast in the Ritz
Remarks by the President of Ireland, Mary McALEESE at Business Breakfast in the Ritz Four Seasons Hotel
Tá áthas orm bheith libh anseo ar maidin.
I am delighted to be here this morning and to have the opportunity to meet with so many leading Irish companies and their Portuguese customers and partners. I would particularly like to welcome representatives of Bord Bia, Bord Failte, Bord Iascaigh Mhara and their guests. This event, organised by Enterprise Ireland, the trade and technology board of the Irish Government, is a unique opportunity to meet and network with one another and it is too an opportunity to celebrate the increasing trade between both our countries. I hope that you will enjoy the morning, renewing old friendships, making new friends and seed bedding a stronger future for both Ireland and Portugal.
The accelerating bilateral trade between us exceeded €436 million last year and the great diversity of this trade - from chemicals to data processing equipment to internationally traded services, is evidence of the growing interest among Irish business people in further developing trade and commercial links with Portugal and vice versa. It is particularly encouraging and reassuring to see such a wide spectrum of business interests represented here this morning.
Ireland and Portugal have experienced a broadly similar pattern of economic development. Both of our countries were essentially agricultural economies on the western margins of Europe. Both have transformed themselves into dynamic industrial, export-led countries as a result of imaginative and vigorous government policies in encouraging inward investment, stimulating native enterprise, investing heavily in education and training and pursuing free trade policies. Our common membership of the European Union has, of course, been the important context in which these very significant developments have taken place.
Portugal has a population, more than twice that of Ireland but, like us, you realised that the domestic market was too small to achieve sustained economic growth and looked outward – to what is now the home market of the European Union, as well as to the larger global marketplace. We in Ireland are particularly excited by the prospects for growth in trade and investment with the accession countries as they prepare to join the European Union in 2004. A market of close to 500 million people must offer considerable potential to all member states, old and new. Ireland and Portugal, each with a proud track record in harvesting potential and making the most of such opportunities, are especially well equipped to profit from this historic phase in the Union’s history.
When you add in the introduction of the euro, this decade seems destined to be one of the most fascinating chapters in modern European history. The elimination of the remaining barriers to trade, tourism and investment which the euro signals, will affect many aspects of our lives and will provide a further boost for Irish and Portuguese companies to expand their export sales. Could there be a more opportune time to meet like this and to examine how to create together the best story for Ireland and for Portugal in the years ahead.
The modern Irish economy continues to be one of the fastest growing in the world and this performance is driven by strong export growth. We are, in every sense, a trading nation and we rely substantially on net foreign earnings to maintain growth, create national wealth, improve living standards and provide employment. Despite the impact of foot and mouth disease and the events of September 11th in 2001, Irish exports still managed to grow by 5% to €11.5b and it is expected that this rate of growth will continue to improve in 2002 and 2003.
The most remarkable feature of this export expansion – and one that mirrors the equally impressive achievements of the Portuguese economy – is that it has happened within such a relatively short time. Just twenty-five years ago, Ireland’s total annual export earnings amounted to the equivalent of less than €500 million – less than one-hundredth of what we currently export - and were made up predominantly of farm commodities, with little or no value-added, which were sold in our neighbouring British market. Today, Irish business embraces the world and of course Portugal is increasingly seen as an attractive market for Irish companies. Especially attractive are Portugal’s increasingly developed infrastructure, increasing spend on R&D, and its leadership in a wide variety of compatible industries, such as telecommunications and financial services. And Portugal’s historic gateway to Latin America, in particular to Brazil is an added attraction. I am particularly pleased to see such a high attendance of delegates from the Portuguese telecommunications sector here this morning. I thank them for their support for the Enterprise Ireland Wireless Mission to Iberia, which is taking place this week. Portugal is the 7th largest GSM mobile phone market in Europe and is predictably catching the attention of Irish telecommunications providers.
Enterprise Ireland actively supports Irish companies in Portugal, through a range of initiatives to build market awareness and promote sales development. They also assist Portuguese companies and will undertake confidential, in depth research of the Irish supply base to match suppliers with the requirements of buyers in the Portuguese market.
I am glad to see that Enterprise Ireland and ICEP, the Portuguese Trade and Tourism Board, work very closely together to increase exchanges between both countries. In recent years, three Portuguese graduates have been positioned in Enterprise Ireland’s Madrid office with the objective of developing more trade between Ireland and Portugal. This has proved to be very successful and I know that Enterprise Ireland hopes to build increasingly closer ties with ICEP in the future. These structured personal links are a crucial element in networking effectively, building up the flow of information and skills as well as the friendships on which commerce depends.
Playing a key role in this regard too is the Irish Embassy in Lisbon. Ambassador O’Connor, his predecessors, and the staff at the Embassy have been very active and indeed very successful in promoting two-way trade and investment, in building links through business associations and individuals. In showcasing Irish culture in Portugal, they are generating the curiosity about each other from which flow business as well as friendship.
I know that our Embassy and our State agencies stand ready to assist their Portugese friends in every way possible. The climate is exactly right for a quantum leap in economic relations between Ireland and Portugal. You are the people who will take that leap and I wish you every success for, when you are successful, Portugal is strong and Ireland is strong.
OBRIGADA POR TEREM VINDO. ATÉ UMA PRÓXIMA VEZ!