IDA urges companies to look to the future

The IDA has called on overseas companies in Ireland to reposition themselves for a new phase of economic growth if they want to build a sustained and successful future in a substantially changed Irish economy.

At the Strategic Competitiveness Conference jointly organised by the IDA and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland, IDA executive director Frank Ryan said that all competitive advantage erodes over time and must be consistently renewed.

"While a growing number of companies have deepened and repositioned their Irish operations, others need to act if the competitiveness of the Irish operations is not to be eroded. Undertaking higher value - added activities will be key to improving competitiveness," he said.

Ryan added that IDA Ireland wants to see more companies undertake R&D in Ireland to enhance the competitiveness of existing operations and shorten time to market.

Austin McCabe, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland and chief executive of Symantec, said that companies whose operations role was solely manufacturing, were extremely vulnerable to competition from low-cost countries.

He said : "The onus is on each one of us to aggressively market our facilities within our global corporations as viable locations for functions such as R&D, shared services, sales and marketing and supply chain management. Only by moving up the value chain can we safeguard investment and jobs."

Symantec employs 500 people in Blanchardstown.