Mr McCreevy also expressed regrets that Britain would not be joining the European Monetary Union along with Ireland on January 1st, 1999. "It would be far better and far safer if our major trading partner, the United Kingdom, was joining from day one," he said. "We have lessened our dependence on trade with Britain . . . but they are and always will be our biggest and major trading partner."

The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy said yesterday that he would advise his Government colleagues to devote more resources to expanding Irish trade in China and other countries of the Asia-Pacific region. In an interview at the annual conference of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Hong Kong yesterday, Mr McCreevy said: "This is the region of the world where Irish business, if it wants to expand, will have to come." The potential of the region was so great, he added, that "if I was qualifying as a chartered accountant and was 23 again, I'd be heading out here."

"Certainly I would say to my colleagues in Government we should devote more resources to this region," he declared. As Minister for Finance, his concern was keeping down public expenditure but he would be "more sympathetic" to ideas for diverting resources to the region.

He conceded that in recent years Ireland had not fully realised the potential of east Asia. As Minister for Trade in 1993-94, Mr McCreevy led two trade delegations to China but now "we are maybe not paying too much attention to what's happening out here".

He referred to the high growth rate in China and the south-east Asian economies, and the commitment by the 15th Chinese Communist Party Congress last week to deregulate state-owned industries inside three years.

"China is becoming more like Hong Kong than Hong Kong is becoming like China," he said, referring to the boom on the Chinese mainland. Ireland needed to look to the region with the future in mind as 65 per cent of all Irish goods and services were exported, and needed new markets. The Americans and Germans were investing billions of dollars in China.

"This is where the action is. If you want to stay in the game, this is where you have to be. What's happening here is mind-boggling," he said. Asked if Ireland was too Euro-centric in its world outlook, Mr McCreevy replied: "I'm not against being Euro-centric but you should never just look into your family house all the time; you should look outside."

Ireland is under-represented in Asia compared to other EU and world countries. It has three professional diplomats accredited to China, and no commercial attache. Most other countries with similar sized economies generally have 10-12 diplomats, including two commercial attaches. Almost alone in the EU, Ireland has no consul in Shanghai, the fastest growing metropolis in Asia.

Ireland does not provide resources for language training comparable to countries like Australia, which give senior diplomats assigned to China two years to learn the language and familiarise themselves with the country. Also, in sharp contrast to other EU countries which are engaging with China, there have been no Irish ministerial visits to Beijing since the Women's Conference in 1995. The first in over two years will occur when the Minister for Fisheries, Dr Michael Woods, leads a large delegation from the fisheries industry to Beijing and Dalien in November.

The Irish Trade Board has its Asia office in Singapore, headed by Mr Paddy Delaney. It is in the process of opening an office in Shanghai to be staffed by an Irish representative contracted locally, Mr Frank Mulligan.

Its China operation is supported by one Chinese official in Beijing provided by the Chinese Diplomatic Services Bureau. A local Chinese representative is also being hired in Hong Kong, where the trade board office has been downgraded with the transfer back to Dublin of trade board China director, Mr Gabriel McCarrick.

The chief executive the Irish Trade Board, Mr Oliver Tatten, said recently that it was very committed to China which, with the shake-up, would be the only country outside Britain with three Trade Board officials. Mr McCreevy also expressed regrets that Britain would not be joining the European Monetary Union along with Ireland on January 1st, 1999. "It would be far better and far safer if our major trading partner, the United Kingdom, was joining from day one," he said. "We have lessened our dependence on trade with Britain . . . but they are and always will be our biggest and major trading partner."