According to a new report from the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, US firms invested almost $18 billion in Ireland during the first six months of the year, a rise of 49% from the same period last year.
The report revealed that US investment has grown five fold over the last decade and is now worth a total of $190 billion – more than the four BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) combined. This figure accounts for nearly a quarter of Ireland’s gross domestic product.
President of the American Chamber of Commerce, Gerard P. Kilcommins, said that Ireland’s highly skilled, flexible workforce along with its low corporation tax were key to maintaining this success.
Mr. Kilcommins advised the Irish government to continue investing in education “to the maximum extent possible”.
Ireland is home to a number of large US multinationals, such as Microsoft, Google, Intel and Pfiser, which are responsible for a significant portion of Irish exports.
The report also found that Irish companies invested $8 billion in the US last year, a new record, and supported 120,000 jobs.
Irish Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, said that this relationship is of critical importance to Ireland and that the Irish government will work hard to strengthen the links between the two countries.
He said: “As the report concludes, this relationship, which was once based entirely around the great success story of US investment in Ireland, is now very much a two-way street.”
Addressing concerns over the current euro zone crisis, author of the report, Joseph Quinlan, said: I’m worried about that, unequivocally. But I’m more confident at the end of the day that investors will come to realize what we already know in this room – Ireland is different from Greece, it's different from Portugal, from a lot of other countries.”
4 Comments
-
-
-
-
Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.casualMBA | Oct 02, 2011, 06:35 PM EDT
Again, I call for a European first rank FitzGerald University in southwest Ireland. The American Chamber of Commerce President Kilcommins advises Ireland invest in education "to the maximum extent possible." And Kilcommins' businesspersons represent billions. (per year)
AengusOg | Oct 01, 2011, 02:00 PM EDT
As most of us have learned, lower tax structures create greater revenue streams through increases in employment and consumer spending.It must be kept in mind that today's workforce are tomorrow's pensioners. Thoughtful planning will avoid exorbitant taxes in the future.
Yardleypa | Oct 01, 2011, 01:37 PM EDT
How high would unemployment be without these companies probably over 20% its a 2 way street we sell Guinness in the USA they sell Bud in Ireland.We set up pubs in the USA they SET UP KFC & McDonalds in Ireland.The Irish like to golf in Florida and American like to golf in Ireland it is all good for both countries.
LoyalCitizen | Oct 01, 2011, 11:45 AM EDT
Destroying a society and its people is not an investment. How much did the Irish have to give in subsidies and tax break, which will only create false figures.