EU ‘remains key for investment by US multinationals’

The EU is the biggest trading bloc in the world and remains one of the most lucrative regions for US multinationals to do business, according to the president of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, Peter Keegan.

Mr Keegan was speaking at the launch of ‘The Case for Investing in Europe 2013’ which was commissioned by the American Chambers across Europe.

“US investment is critical to economic growth in Europe, supporting four million jobs across the continent. Ireland more than any other country has seen the benefit of this — 700 US companies employing in excess of 115,000 people; with employment in US companies growing 15% since 2008”, said Mr Keegan.

“But it is also critical to the US, where the success of global companies makes an important contribution to the economic wealth of that country,” he said.

There has been a huge amount of negativity about the EU over the past number of years, but the region still has an enormous amount to offer potential investors, he said.

Half of the top 25 countries in the world ranked by the ease of doing business are located in Europe. The EU has a total output of $16.1 trillion each year, making it the biggest market in the world. Europe is also the wealthiest region in the world with personal consumption 60% higher than either Brazil, Russia, India or China.

Mr Keegan said the recent publicity around Ireland’s tax rate was unwelcome and disappointing.

“It is regrettable that Ireland has been name-checked so heavily in the recent US Senate hearings. The substantive nature of the operations that US companies have in Ireland and the longevity of their investment have been largely ignored.”

“However, it is important that there should be a debate on international tax structures to ensure they are appropriate to the modern global economy,” Mr Keegan said, adding: “But we must not allow knee-jerk reactions to the current news cycle.”