TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen sent out a strong message at a Wall Street business gathering yesterday that Ireland remained a highly attractive location for investment and that the underlying strength of the economy meant that it was well-positioned to overcome difficulties and take advantage of an upturn in the future.
Addressing a breakfast at the New York Stock Exchange organised by Enterprise Ireland, he stressed the advantages of investing in Ireland but also pointed to the high level of Irish investment in the US.
"Certainly we are not going to rest on our laurels, as proud as we are of our achievements thus far," he said. Ireland was "one of the most open economies in the world".
"We also recognise that, in the current international environment, there are challenging times out there," he added.
"The US economy and Ireland have been very close, for a very good reason. Ireland has been a great location for American investment for over 20 years."
He said Ireland was "very grateful" for the influx of high-tech US industry and a well-skilled and well-educated population had been able to take advantage of it.
"Now we face into new times and people need to know and investors and people who are interested in Ireland and working with Irish companies need to know what is it that the Irish Government has in mind?
"People wanted to know how the Government was proposing to sustain Ireland's economic and employment growth into the future.
"We want to strategically position ourselves so that we can weather this turbulence and are well positioned to take advantage of the inevitable upturn we hope will come to the global economy."
He said foreign direct investment remained strong. "Our stock of foreign direct investment is five times greater than the OECD average. Our service exports are performing well; in the last seven years they have tripled in value and now account for 40 per cent of our exports.
"Ireland is a competitive economy through its low corporation tax where 87.5 per cent of your profits can be retained by your corporation and re-invested."
He said overall productivity levels were "very good in international terms".
He drew attention also to the level of Irish investment in the US and the fact that, in 2005, "Irish companies employed 80,000 people in this country".
In addition, "we are the 12th largest exporter to the US, greater than Brazil or India or indeed the Netherlands".
Describing the National Development Plan as "the biggest investment programme Ireland has ever seen", Mr Cowen continued: "We intend, even in these more difficult times, prioritising that investment to increase the productive capacity of our economy."
Afterwards, the Taoiseach announced that contracts to the value of €12 million had been concluded this week between a number of Enterprise Ireland client companies and their US customers. Irish companies involved included Realtime Technologies, Curam Software, VigiTrust, Cartoon Saloon, Advanced Innovations and ValidSoft.
Following his address, Mr Cowen rang the bell to mark the opening of the day's trading on the Stock Exchange. He then went on to City Hall where he had a lengthy meeting with New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Mr Cowen then visited the World Trade Tribute Centre, where he honoured those who were killed and injured in the events of September 11th, 2001, with a presentation of a bog oak sculpture fashioned in the shape of a swan.
