Yesterday was our second to last day in Dublin so it involved a lot of class time for final presentations and a guest speaker from IDA Ireland! IDA Ireland’s overall goal is to bring foreign direct investments into Ireland. Before we met the IDA representative, we discussed how the country has many factors that could lead international companies to want to conduct business. Most obviously, Ireland will soon be the only country in the EU to speak English. The Irish are extremely proud of their roots and all of our encounters with business people have been welcoming and friendly. The overall culture is definitely an aspect that could be seen as either a positive or negative depending on the viewer. For some, the relaxed and easy going atmosphere would be appealing as it provides a low stress environment. For others, this would cause friction if they were dealing with multi-million dollar contracts where deadlines were strict and imperative.
Our speaker, Raymond Bowe, is a manager at Ireland IDA who is responsible for many skill sets within the company. He explained how they attract talent from all around the world and their sister company is Enterprise Ireland (the company we visited 2 days ago)! They primarily focus on the following sectors:
- information communication technology
- Life sciences & food
- Content industry, consumer & business services
- Engineering, industrial & clean tech
- International financial services
One of my biggest questions going into this presentation was about Ireland IDA’s sales pitch. How do they convince foreign investors to put their money into Ireland? Some major points that Raymond brought up in regards to this subject include the track record, talent, tax rate, and ease of business. Ireland IDA has been around for 30 years and their clients account for 10.2% of total employment in the country. They even account for 70% of National exports while illustrates just how powerful this company really is. In regards to the talent, Ireland has the youngest population in Europe and the education system is excellent. This factor alone definitely draws investors in to get involved in this competitive market. The ease of business, lastly, is a key factor that I hadn’t considered before. Ireland is a small country and they have established a business friendly setup. Since the area is so small, the chain of command is simpler and easier to deal with.
Moving forward, if our class would reunite in 3 years and return to Dublin, I definitely do think that we would see some changes. First, I think we would see an increased number of tech companies since we have already observed so many businesses wishing to expand to the Dublin area. I would also predict increased competition for small businesses like Pearse Lyons Distillery just because this area is so heavily filled with tourists, thus bringing in large amounts of revenue. Overall, I don’t really see the city changing drastically for the worse. The people here clearly have strategies on how to improve their communities and their businesses which are far ahead of other countries. Having large companies like Google and Amazon grow here as well will also contribute to the improvement of the city as a whole.