Introduction
Ambassadors, ladies and gentlemen, I’m delighted to be here today. Thank you Martin Murray for inviting me to this important event for Ireland in the Asia Pacific and Gulf regions.
So many of you joining us here in Croke Park are already making a huge contribution to Ireland’s relations with and in these regions be it in the area of business, or cultural or diplomacy.
We owe you a great deal for your endeavours.
On behalf of the government and the people of Ireland thank you.
GAA & the APIBF
We meet today on sacred ground.
Sacred because generations of Irish families brought their pride and hopes and dreams here to this stadium.
Across the country parishes, townlands took on a strange rinsed look as neighbours work mates many of them team mates made their way to Croke Park on those fateful Sundays in September.
This is home to the GAA.
And the GAA is about home because it is about people community it’s about what we can achieve when we think, imagine, work together for a common team a common purpose.
What better place then to talk about this initiative where the GAA is making such an important role in building the relationship between Ireland and the Asia Pacific and Gulf regions.
The Asia Pacific Ireland Business Forum is the first event of its type focused on building connections between GAA clubs and business groups based in these key regions.
I remember well talking to a man who told me that when he lived on the coast in Japan he’d take his son out into the garden in the evening and teach him how to take a puc fada the Pacific Ocean rolling out in front of them.
He said he never felt so at home or so far from home on those evenings his small son by his side.
I’m sure that he and all Irish people who live and work in that region would be as appreciative as we are here today of the great work done by Peter Ryan
Peter showed true vision in recognising the relationship potential between the GAA and business networks in these regions.
The first forum was organised in Singapore in 2007 on the eve of the annual Asian Gaelic Games.
The Forum immediately became a feature of the Games and has been hosted since in Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Minister of State Joe Costello will be representing the Government at the next Forum in Kuala Lumpur in October.
I understand that there is equally another important ‘feature’ involved Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh.
Our national treasure from the edge of the Atlantic has been a regular visitor to the Asian Gaelic Games. I’m sure he’ll have stories to tell us about his Pacific adventures later on.
Today’s conference brings not just Micheá but key business groups, Ambassadors of leading economies in the regions as well as some of Ireland’s own Ambassadors and trade representatives.
You bring a range and depth of experience that will be inspiring for all those with ambitions to do business in the Asia Pacific and Gulf regions.
Before turning specifically to today’s theme let me say a few words about Ireland’s economic prospects.
Ireland’s economic prospects
Last year when my Government came into office we had three top priorities:
- Rescue our economy
- Revive our national spirit
- Rescue Ireland’s international reputation as a top destination for business, investment and tourism.
A year on and we are well on our way.
The world looks at Ireland and sees a country a people determined to recover and to prosper this time really prosper and to do it together.
Gradually, steadily we’re bringing our public finances under control through our fiscal-consolidation programme.
Last week’s successful auction of treasury bills was a very important milestone on Ireland’s continuing path to recovery.
The markets have reacted well to our strong programme-implementation to-date and to the decisive Yes Vote in the recent Referendum on the Stability Treaty.
The decision taken at the recent EU summit to break the negative links between what is ‘sovereign’ and what is the banks’ is also a hugely important development for Ireland.
Every day, Irish companies continue to expand abroad. We’re entering new markets, making new friends and connections, selling more, winning more.
2011 was a record year for exports by Irish companies.
And this trend is continuing strongly for 2012.
Job Creation & Exports
Good as that is it could always be better.
The international environment remains tough. We remain vigilant.
Uncertainty sees businesses hold off on investment and from taking risks.
Irish businesses operating abroad have to be competitive to survive to be able to make it in new markets… to offer the quality goods and services for which we are renowned.
That is why earlier this year we published a detailed Jobs Action Plan containing over 270 actions with a strong focus on implementation.
Restoring Ireland’s competitiveness is a key element of the Action Plan.
And the recently published IMD World Competitiveness rankings show our efforts are bearing fruit.
In terms of competitiveness Ireland is now back in the world’s top 20.
World Number 1 for the availability of skilled labour.
World Number 1 for flexibility and adaptability in the face of challenges.
World number 2 for productivity and efficiency.
Trade and export-led growth are key priorities in the Action Plan.
The Export Trade Council chaired by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Mr. Eamon Gilmore T.D. ensures a coherent approach to priority markets across all agencies and all embassies.
Asia Pacific and the Gulf markets are an exciting prospect for Irish companies with the capability to engage that can offer world-class products and services.
The Jobs Action Plan contains a range of actions to support companies to increase exporting capacity and to increase trade and investments links in new markets.
These include:
- The establishment in March of a new Potential Exporters Division in Enterprise Ireland to encourage and promote the internationalisation agenda among companies.
- The introduction of the Foreign Earnings Deduction to encourage exporting companies is also an important step in assisting firms wishing to develop business relationships in certain priority markets.
Enterprise Ireland recently reported that in 2011 exports to these regions from Irish companies increased by 17% from the previous year.
And Enterprise Ireland has over one third of its overseas staff-resources in the Asia Pacific region for example in China, India, Singapore, Japan, Korea and Australia strategically placed to help Irish businesses expand and grow.
In 2010 there were six Ministerial Trade missions to the Asia Pacific region.
This year there’ll be almost double that with senior Ministers visiting all key markets in the region.
Clear evidence of the Government’s commitment to developing economic and trade links with these important markets.
There is also an important role for the Global Irish Network and wider Diaspora to play in assisting Irish companies gain traction in these markets.
Just look at Liam Casey who is here today and those like him real inspirations as to what can be achieved by Irish companies in Asia.
Visit to China
I saw this for myself first hand earlier in the year on a very successful visit to China.
Just after Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping discovered his inner hurler on a visit here in February.
Here in Croke Park hurl in hand I told him he was a natural.
But it wasn’t all about the hurling because in China I witnessed the signing of more than €35m worth of contracts and commitments.
I also concluded a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Chinese Government.
This provides a framework to ensure cooperation between Ireland and China in a number of important trade and investment areas.
Our priority now is to ensure that we fully exploit the opportunities for greater trade and investment, not just with China, but with other high-growth economies in the Asia-Pacific and Gulf Regions.
India, the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations)region, Korea and Japan are all key markets for us and all have shown strong growth for Irish companies over the recent past.
Enterprise Ireland has organised a significant number of inward buyer visits from these markets, with over 60 buyers from the region coming to Ireland so far this year to do business with Irish companies.
The Asia-Europe meeting (ASEM) is a very important mechanism for deepening links between Asia and Europe with the next meeting due to take place in Laos in November.
My colleague, Minister Creighton met with foreign ministers from key South-East Asian countries in Brunei earlier this year and discussed with them how we might step up closer cooperation and engagement.
ASEAN has a combined population of almost 600 million people- nearly 9 percent of global population. A range of indigenous Irish companies are represented in ASEAN markets but there is significant further scope for development.
So we do have good relationships in the region but we know we can and must do more. I see that today’s programme includes workshops on many of our priority areas including agrifood, financial services, ICT, life sciences, education and tourism.
Agrifood
But the one area I see as a major opportunity for rapid expansion is that of Irish food and drink producers.
We are a country blessed with natural resources and creativity.
A huge bonus to our food-and-drink sector which is already widely recognised around the world for its excellence, safety and quality.
Consumer demand for safe premium food and drink is growing globally.
Only last month I had the pleasure to announce the €100 million expansion programme for Irish Distillers.
Their main product, Jameson, has managed to increase sales of cases by 750% since 1988 with 3.4 million cases sold this year. This represents phenomenal growth for a drinks-manufacturing company with projected sales continuing to grow.
Following my recent trade trip to China, I’m convinced that the high standards associated with Irish food production will be key as we move into expanding markets.
In relation to the potential opening up of the Chinese Beef market for Ireland, only last month Minister Coveney had detailed technical discussions with a Chinese delegation over the control regime in place for the production of beef in Ireland.
The Ministers jointly signed a formal agreement on the detailed operation of a joint technical working group which will further consider the scientific basis for restoring market access.
Education
Building a deep relationship with the Asia Pacific region must be a generational project for Ireland. We must develop levers to position Ireland in the region 10, 20, 30 years down the road.
That is why attracting students from the region to study in Ireland is so important. We must show that an Irish education will meet the expectations and ambitions of the brightest and best international students.
If we do, we will be able to create a new Diaspora – an educational Diaspora – who will have a lifelong affinity with Ireland and who can help tell our story over the coming decades.
Last year we attracted around 7,500 Asian students to our higher education system, with thousands more studying on Irish programmes in their home countries. I want to see that doubled.
Over the coming months, Ministers will be travelling to China, India, Malaysia and Vietnam to promote the Education in Ireland initiative and to attract the top talent from these countries to study here.
Tourism
The Irish Government has also identified Asian Pacific and Gulf markets as key opportunities for the long term development of new tourism markets.
To assist with this, the visa waiver scheme has recently been extended to make it easier to add Ireland to a visit to the UK. The significant recent improvements in air access to Ireland from Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East, are also important in increasing tourism from these regions.
Of course, we will shortly have another opportunity to make a splash in Asian markets with the upcoming launch of the Bollywood blockbuster ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ which was filmed in Dublin.
The film will be launched in August in cinemas, when it is expected to reach 100 million people in 24 countries.
We plan to make the most of this by use of TV and online advertising promoting Ireland to coincide with the release of the film in India.
And we will not miss the opportunities presented by The Gathering Ireland 2013, our biggest ever tourism-led event.
The Gathering is about inviting anyone and everyone with a connection to people in Ireland – or an interest in the culture, history or heritage of Ireland – to come here and experience the world’s warmest welcome in 2013.
The Gathering will allow us mark the many ways in which the story of Ireland and her people has overlapped with those of Asia and the Pacific:
from the links between the founders of our State and those of modern India.
To the modern Diaspora teaching Gaelic games in Singapore.
To the treasures of the Chester Beatty Museum and the cultures of Asia from which they came.
Conclusion
So the links and friendships between Ireland, Asia Pacific and the Gulf are strong and are developing all the time.My Government is fully committed to doing everything we can to deepen and strengthen these relationships.
Essentially this initiative is about people.
Community.
Common purpose.
Just as crucially as it is about ideas.
This is an idea whose time has well and truly come.
I wish you all well with that idea and in all your business that will come from it in the times ahead.
Thank you.