Recommendation 9.8 of the report of the Innovation task Force proposed the launch of a marketing campaign, initially on a pilot basis, to promote Ireland as an excellent location for starting innovative export-oriented companies.
I will shortly be making an announcement about an initiative to attract overseas entrepreneurs to come to Ireland to set up a new company here or develop an innovative idea or service.
I believe that the contribution of foreign entrepreneurs to the Irish economic recovery effort is a resource with considerable potential. Entrepreneurs, not currently living in Ireland, can be encouraged to bring their ideas and entrepreneurial drive to Ireland, and establish an enterprise here. The entrepreneurs may be of the Irish diaspora who are returning to Ireland, non-Irish who have been resident here and subsequently returned home, or indeed people with no previous connection to Ireland. In time, these companies have the potential to develop to become a source of wealth and job creation for this economy.
This initiative will be one more step in orienting Ireland as a start-up hub for innovation and export-oriented companies.