Half of European agri-food investors in Ireland last year were from UK
This was revealed by Minister of State Tom Hayes when Enterprise Ireland held an event in London to highlight the opportunities for investment in Ireland in the food industry.
Over 75 key decision makers from Britain and other international companies and their advisors attended, along with strategic experts and people from leading investment institutions.
Hosted by the Embassy of Ireland, London, the theme of the event was ‘Accelerate Your Business in Europe’ and the role that Ireland and the Irish food sector can play in driving company growth.
The event reflected the high level of investment activity in the Irish food sector over the past year, and the record number of new food projects supported by Enterprise Ireland. It also reflected the key importance of the British market for Ireland.
Mr Hayes said that international food companies have a major impact on the Irish economy in terms of direct investment and job creation.
In addition, they generally use 70% local products and resources meaning that the positive knock-on effect for the local economy is very significant.
‘The food sector enjoys a position of strategic importance in Ireland, which is recognised by our Food Harvest 2020 strategy.
“We aim to make Ireland the go-to European location for mobile food manufacturing operations.
“Ireland has strength and depth in the food and food-related sectors and is gearing up to deliver sustained export growth,” he said.
Mr Hayes said the Enterprise Ireland event was an important part of Ireland’s drive to win new international investment.
He met with Ranjit Singh, CEO of 2 Sisters Food Group, at the event, and congratulated him on the latest Green Isle €30 million investment creating 115 new jobs in Ireland – Green Isle is part of 2 Sisters.
Mr Hayes said the purpose of the Enterprise Ireland event was to encourage similar projects in Ireland.
Michael Cantwell, Enterprise Ireland Head of Food, said EI is proactively in the market looking for new projects for Ireland as well as working together with the international food companies already in Ireland.
“We help our partners to grow their business from Ireland, creating value for them and enabling them to create new jobs in Ireland,” he said.
