Ireland is now one of the most trade dependent economies in the world, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, pointed out yesterday - and it is destined to remain so. Exports and imports combined account for more than 150 per cent of gross national product. Exports support nearly all Irish manufacturing jobs, a growing number in the service sector and over 100,000 in agriculture. For the moment, there is a handsome trade surplus, but such an openness to the world makes this country highly vulnerable to shifts in the international economy and changes in the rules regulating it. All the more reason, therefore, to ensure efforts are maintained to sustain this excellent record by strengthening the framework within which traders operate.
Mr Ahern was speaking at a seminar organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and made the strong point that "a quality diplomatic service is a vital asset in a small open economy such as ours". The long view diplomats take on developing relations with other states needs to be married to the shorter-term one taken by economic players. He called for a partnership approach involving Foreign Affairs, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia and other promotional agencies - and with the companies who actually do the exporting.
In his contribution to the seminar, the Minister for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs, Mr Kitt, underlined that his department - which has primary responsibility for the Government's external trade and foreign earnings policy - must co-operate closely with Foreign Affairs if national interests are to be optimised. Embassies and State agencies need to work together as closely as possible to keep Ireland visible. He supported the Ireland House approach as the most effective means of doing this. It has been implemented successfully in several international capitals, a number of which were used yesterday as case studies of what can be achieved. On the evidence of this seminar, there is a strong willingness to find the best means of pooling limited resources.
Mr Kitt spoke of the urgent need to do so in countering problems encountered in the huge Asian markets - a general lack of awareness of Ireland, market access difficulties, poor awareness of opportunity and the lack of a partnership with industry in a fragmented policy setting. To be fair to the Government, it has moved smartly to address these issues in that part of the world since the Taoiseach's visit to the region last year - just as previous governments moved to strengthen Ireland's representation in central and eastern Europe. The various departmental and official interests have been mobilised to tackle them. New embassies and offices are being opened and representation upgraded in Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo and Sydney.
Organisational rationalisation is not the only response to the globalisation of economic and trade affairs. A small state such as Ireland needs to ensure it is represented adequately in all the potential centres of growth. It is good news that a new Irish embassy is about to open in Mexico (and that another has just opened in Turkey). But Ireland remains woefully under-represented in Latin America, notably in Brazil and Chile, and is losing opportunities there as a result. Mr Ahern should seriously consider visiting that region in the year to come.