Teamwork key to foreign investment

IRELAND’S ability to focus on the big picture is a key factor in the State’s ability to beat rival countries to win billions in foreign direct investment.

“Close partnerships between all the players in Team Ireland are the basis for successful wins in the intense competition for inward investment,” said Sean Dorgan, chief executive of IDA Ireland at a conference in Ennis organised by Clare County Council. The theme was ‘Enhancing an Enterprise Culture – The Role of Local Authorities’.

Mr Dorgan said that local authorities have been key players in winning investments for their areas. He praised their speed in meeting investor needs, as well as the many steps taken to improve quality of life in their areas through social, cultural, planning and development measures.

Mr Dorgan gave a number of examples of highly successful teamwork involving local authorities, state agencies and others. The $1 billion plus investment from Amgen for Cork, announced in January, was the result of intense work in relation to land, infrastructure and facilities, skills and professional services by many bodies.

Cork County Council, in particular, was central to assuring the company that their needs would be met, to bring their plant into production.

Teamwork in winning the Amgen investment was so successful that Prof Stephane Garelli of IMD in Lausanne – an international commentator on competitiveness who directs the authoritative IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook – said that Switzerland “can learn from Ireland’s one-stop advice system”.

At the time of the Amgen announcement, the failure of Switzerland’s bid to win the investment was major national news there.

Among other examples of great teamwork was the development of a new biopharmaceutical plant site in Co Galway.

Similar work in south Co. Dublin has led to the granting to IDA of full planning permission for a wafer fabrication plant in Clondalkin.