US business forum - Ireland Inc is open for business

Never was there a greater need to sell Ireland abroad. That fact of economic reality underlines the importance of the Government’s promotional visit to the US.

The presence of both Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore at an Invest in Ireland roundtable discussion hosted by former US president Bill Clinton will send out a clear message that Ireland Inc is open for business.

Given the scale of the country’s economic plight, largely self-inflicted by the greed of unregulated bankers, out-of-control developers and wrongheaded government policies, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Irish people have a tradition of bouncing back in the face of adversity. In the current situation it is sometimes hard to see how much Ireland has to offer.

Coming before the long-anticipated launch of the Government’s jobs plan next week, the move to give tax exemptions worth up to €35,000 a year to people who spend long periods selling Irish goods and services in emerging markets is the kind of incentive that could pay dividends. With Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton also on the high-powered sales team in the US, the objective is to encourage US business and economic leaders to regard Ireland as an ideal European location for investment and also for new companies to create more jobs here at a time when the need has never been greater. Mr Bruton will welcome the announcement of 500 jobs at three Irish-based US companies yesterday.

Setting the kind of example that other investors will hopefully follow, it has emerged that a leading mutual funds group, Franklin Templeton of California, gave a remarkable vote of confidence in the capacity of the Irish economy to recover, quietly buying up €1.9bn of Government bonds at a time when others elsewhere in the world were dumping such investments.

That Mr Clinton is addressing the forum at New York University will help boost the drive for investment in the Irish economy and is further practical evidence of his long-standing love affair with Ireland.

Considering 100 members of the powerful Global Irish Network will be at the meeting is sure to attract the eyes, and hopefully the dollars, of other successful Irish-American businessmen. All 100 are influential friends of this country and existing investors in Ireland.

This is indeed a unique opportunity, as the Taoiseach observed, to engage with people at the highest levels of the international business world, top executives who can make a real difference in the fight to restore this country’s waning fortunes.

The momentum of the visit, which also embraces Boston, will continue to gather pace next month when Mr Kenny makes the traditional journey to the White House as a guest of President Barack Obama for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Despite a cynical tendency in some quarters to dismiss Ireland’s American links as the stuff of “paddy whackery”, it is worth recalling that 600 US firms employ 100,000 people in this country. But for the American connection, the Irish economy would be in a far worse state than it already is, so let us hope the number of US companies operating here will continue to grow as a result of this timely bid to sell Ireland Inc.