IDA hopeful emerging economies will make up 20% of greenfield investment

IDA IRELAND is hopeful that about 20% of all new greenfield investment here, over the next four years, will come from companies representing the so-called BRIC emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Addressing the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, yesterday, an IDA delegation outlined much of the initial targets set out in its recently published Horizon 2020 blueprint for increased foreign direct investment (FDI) into Ireland for the next decade.

That document targets the creation of 105,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2014 and the attraction of 640 new FDIs into the country – of which 50% will be located outside of Dublin and Cork. It added that €1.7bn would be invested, on a yearly basis, on R&D and innovation.

In the next 10 years, the IDA hopes 240,000 new jobs will have come from overseas companies investing here. Between 2004 and 2008, 53,000 jobs were created here via FDI.

Committee chairman, Willie Penrose yesterday welcomed the “highly ambitious” document, adding: “Securing foreign direct investment will play a key role in helping to turn around our economy and rejuvenate enterprise and business.”

Fine Gael TD Leo Varadkar accused IDA Ireland of dressing up old news while Fine Gael TD Damien English questioned the realistic chances of the 50% non-Dublin/Cork investment target.

In response, Mr O’Leary said that last year the rate of foreign investment projects established outside of the country’s two main cities was 46% and said that a number of the sectors under the IDA microscope are, indeed, new for the country, including the area of services innovation – “a growth area and a brand new focus for us”. He also refuted Mr Varadkar’s claim that the real job creation level would be zero, as the current job attrition rate would basically cancel new job numbers.

Mr O’Leary added that some areas of the country – including Cork – where a lot of pharmaceutical investment has been made, could suffer from potential job losses if further consolidation in the sector materialises, as is expected. However, he added that opportunities would also arise. Mr O’Leary also said that the bulk of the FDI jobs created in the coming years are likely to be in the services area.