Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to be back in New York and to meet so many good friends of Ireland, particularly including Duncan Niederauer, CEO of the New York Stock Exchange.
It’s a great honour for me to ring the opening bell on Ireland Day at the New York Stock Exchange.
This is an annual occasion when the eyes of the world are on Ireland and I’m pleased to be associated with the launch of Ireland Inc on Ireland Day 2012.
It is a real source of pride to me and to all Irish people that so many of our countrymen and women have helped to build this city and its institutions.
Here on Wall Street the Irish footprint is clear whether you look at the trading floor, the brokerages, banks, even the business media, our Irish family stretches the globe… a 70million strong diaspora who have been strong advocates for the Irish economy and the Irish people.
Irish Economy
The St Patrick’s Day period presents a very unique and special opportunity for Ireland to deliver a strong and clear message on our economic.
Recovery.
Ireland is turning a corner. It’s been a year of steady progress for Ireland. Our economy is growing. Deposits are flowing back into our banks. Exports are thriving. American investors are looking at Ireland and liking what they see. We are a determined government, determined to succeed. It is my vision, my intention, to make Ireland the best small country to do business by 2016.
As we grow our economy, we will build on our key strengths. I want to mention just two of these today.
Firstly, within our international financial services sector, we are
developing Ireland as a centre of excellence in green finance. Today, we are launching a global green asset management network, capitalising on over $10 billion in green assets managed, domiciled or serviced in Ireland, making us an emerging leader in green finance.
Secondly, we are well on the way to establishing Ireland as one of the cloud computing capitals of the world. Seven of the world’s top ten Cloud Data Centre operators are already in Ireland, including Amazon, Google and Microsoft. This is no surprise to me: we have the infrastructure, the technological expertise, the skill base, the track record and, above all, the adaptability, to deliver. This is one of the most exciting areas of development in Ireland and I am convinced that, at the rate we are going, Ireland can be the Cloud Computing Capital of the World.
Invest in Ireland
You will recall from the recent ‘Invest in Ireland’ event hosted by President Bill Clinton in here in New York, international investors are positive about Ireland’s response to the unprecedented economic challenges we have faced and are excited about the investment opportunities Ireland presents. President Clinton believes investors would be nuts not to invest in Ireland at the moment! This is because the pillars for our economic success are sound and that there is tremendous scope to build on our achievements in terms of building exports, developing inward investment and enhancing our tourism sectors.
So my message to you this St Patrick’s week is that there has never been a better time to invest in Ireland and to be part of our recovery. Ireland is a new land of opportunity for international investors. Why?
Because Ireland is the gateway… your gateway... to a European market of 500 million people. We have a young, highly-educated, highly-motivated, English-speaking workforce, competitive corporation tax, good
infrastructure, a government determined to succeed. The World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ Report 2011 found Ireland to be the most supportive business environment in the Euro area.
And the strong cultural ties between Ireland and the US have naturally extended into business opportunities. Irish companies employ nearly 82,000 Americans across 50 states. The US is now Ireland’s largest export partner with over 22% of our exports coming here. This works both ways – The US is also Ireland’s second largest import partner.
Tourism
Next year, 2013, is the year of the Irish ‘Gathering’ when Ireland will celebrate what is best about our people, our landscape, our culture, our heritage. Indeed many of you gathered here this morning already know Ireland well. But, here on Ireland Day in the New York Stock Exchange, I invite you back to Ireland and if you’ve never been…you’ve got some trip ahead of you.
I wish you all well with the conference today, I look forward to getting a report on today’s programme outcomes.
And I say thank you to the organisers for the opportunity to join you on Ireland Day 2012 in New York city!
Go raibh mile maith agaibh go leir.