Post by earl on Nov 6, 2007 13:23:49 GMT
Irish 'can do' attitude fuels investment by foreign companies
Companies continue to invest in Ireland because of the Irish "can do" attitude, a commitment to excellence, teamwork, agility and productivity, business lobby group IBEC said yesterday.
A skilled workforce, a favourable tax regime and enterprise-focussed business environment are among the major reasons identified by multinational bosses for investing in Ireland.
This emerged from two new reports, aimed at foreign corporate decision-makers in the technology and pharmaceutical industries, and published by IBEC.
The reports were published with the objective of securing further foreign direct investment into the country. They detail the positive experience of the multinational companies operating here in Ireland.
Advantage
Julie O'Neill, who chairs the PharmaChemical Ireland group and is general manager of Gilead Life Sciences, outlined one major advantage the country holds over rival investment locations.
"We have local management expertise in a wide range of areas, which makes it much easier for global companies to develop their operations here.
"This asset is not something that Ireland is going to lose and could prove decisive when it comes to winning new investment," she said.
And, for the technology sector, Lionel Alexander, ICT Ireland chairman and a vice president of Hewlett-Packard Ireland, identified the close relationship business has with the Government, tertiary institutes and research centres which, he said, has helped companies expand from core manufacturing to include marketing and R&D activities.
A survey of pharma-chemical companies conducted for the report found that confidence in the sector remains very high: 80pc of companies said that they plan to expand their Irish operations, 80pc expect to invest in R&D and 75pc remain positive about the future of their corporations.
Companies continue to invest in Ireland because of the Irish "can do" attitude, a commitment to excellence, teamwork, agility and productivity, business lobby group IBEC said yesterday.
A skilled workforce, a favourable tax regime and enterprise-focussed business environment are among the major reasons identified by multinational bosses for investing in Ireland.
This emerged from two new reports, aimed at foreign corporate decision-makers in the technology and pharmaceutical industries, and published by IBEC.
The reports were published with the objective of securing further foreign direct investment into the country. They detail the positive experience of the multinational companies operating here in Ireland.
Advantage
Julie O'Neill, who chairs the PharmaChemical Ireland group and is general manager of Gilead Life Sciences, outlined one major advantage the country holds over rival investment locations.
"We have local management expertise in a wide range of areas, which makes it much easier for global companies to develop their operations here.
"This asset is not something that Ireland is going to lose and could prove decisive when it comes to winning new investment," she said.
And, for the technology sector, Lionel Alexander, ICT Ireland chairman and a vice president of Hewlett-Packard Ireland, identified the close relationship business has with the Government, tertiary institutes and research centres which, he said, has helped companies expand from core manufacturing to include marketing and R&D activities.
A survey of pharma-chemical companies conducted for the report found that confidence in the sector remains very high: 80pc of companies said that they plan to expand their Irish operations, 80pc expect to invest in R&D and 75pc remain positive about the future of their corporations.