The economic spin-off North and South of the Border from a speedy resolution of the impasse in the peace process must serve as an crucial incentive for a successful outcome of the Mitchell review, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said yesterday.
He said the North-South institutions, the proposed trade and business development body and an initiative to promote the marketing of the entire island as a tourist destination "are contingent on breaking the current impasse on the implementation of the [Belfast] agreement".
Opening a conference on economic opportunities for Ireland abroad at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin, he said the challenges to competitiveness in overseas markets required a new partnership between promotional agencies, government departments and private-sector companies.
"Such a partnership needs to be grounded in a clear commitment to work together for the common goal of sustained economic development," Mr Ahern told delegates, who included a large number of Irish ambassadors and business leaders.
"It is vital that we maximise the input from the foreign service and other experts on the international economic environment into our economic development policy so that our strategies take full account of the insights which a foreign service can offer to both government and the business public."
On the potential for further growth in the software and electronic commerce industries, Mr Ahern said it was important that international regulations developed in a manner which was fair to the Republic. "In this field, negotiations in the EU and in the international regulatory bodies will be crucial, requiring alert, skilful and diplomatic handling by the officials involved from all concerned departments."
The chief executive of IDA Ireland, Mr Sean Dorgan, told the conference that software projects were flooding into the State. "You're hearing about a skills shortage, but it's nothing like the shortage of skills elsewhere in the world.
"Electronic commerce is really going to happen and it really is going to be significant," he said.
Mr Dorgan said the IDA had three priorities for the future:
to develop a better regional impact of industrial development so that half of new greenfield jobs would be in Objective 1 regions;
to push up the quality of businesses investing in the Republic and the quality of businesses which have already set up here;
to influence the public system generally, from the development of broad band communications to improving road and air networks. "Education will be a critical, winning factor in the coming 10 to 20 years," he said. While a 12.5 per cent rate of corporation tax meant a "whole lot of businesses not previously attracted will now be interested in doing business here", Mr Dorgan said there was a risk that companies would put their sales and profits through the Republic without basing their operations here.
This would have to be addressed, he said.
The Minister of State for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs, Mr Tom Kitt, said a report on the Republic's poor earning performance in Asia had highlighted a general lack of awareness of the State, market access difficulties, poor awareness of opportunities and the lack of a partnership approach.
An Asia-Pacific Strategy Committee, to include private sector members and diplomats from the foreign earnings committee, would be set up as a focal point to develop policy for the region, Mr Kitt said.
The chief executive of Enterprise Ireland, Mr Dan Flinter, said that while the interplay between promotional bodies and diplomats had grown significantly in recent times, there was still a problem with information sharing. We were slow in getting the information out and sharing it, he said.
