IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Ireland and its regions and Enterprise Ireland has responsibility for the development of indigenous industry. Both Agencies work in close co-operation with one another and are actively working with a range of other bodies, including county development boards, private developers, educational institutes and FÁS towards maximising the potential of individual areas and counties for new investment and expansion projects.
IDA Ireland is acutely aware that overseas investors not alone bring high wage jobs to individual regions and areas but also have knock-on benefits in other sectors such as supply, distribution and transport, thus creating further investment/employment opportunities for local people in the immediate vicinity and surrounding areas.
The availability of indigenous support services capable of sustaining their investment is an important issue for overseas investors, with potential investors regularly inquiring about the availability of indigenous services that are international in focus. In this context it is also an important ingredient for IDA Ireland in both marketing sites at local level for new investment or presenting a case to existing investors for expansion projects.
While it would not be appropriate for IDA Ireland to engage in marketing an individual company's products or services, the Agency can and does make overseas investors aware of the availability of products and services that may be of interest or necessary to sustain the potential investment and where the investor so requests IDA Ireland can also facilitate introductions. Ultimately it is the investor who decides on where to locate, including where to visit as a potential location and what services or products he or she wishes to source locally to support the enterprise.
Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland are currently in discussion on the issue of allowing each other preferential access to each other's company information systems. This will facilitate development of a more effective ability to identify opportunities for developing relationships at various levels between Indigenous and Foreign owned companies.
Enterprise Ireland actively assists companies from all over the world to create business relationships between potential buyers and Irish suppliers. The Agency also provides support for strategic alliances, product licensing, collaborative research and joint ventures, and is actively endeavouring to maximise interactions between global buyers and suppliers in a number of ways including:
•Meeting and consulting with potential customers and building an understanding of their purchasing requirement, including provision of free confidential support services to meet those requirements
•Supplying detailed reports on Irish suppliers and information on how potential customers can benefit from doing business with Irish suppliers
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Organising visits to meet with Irish suppliers and manufacturers
•Arranging initial introductions to potential business partners and providing help with follow-up contacts.
In addition, the Enterprise Ireland website (www.enterprise-ireland.com) hosts an electronic search engine entitled “Source Ireland”, which is a business directory of leading Irish suppliers, providing national/international buyers with comprehensive and up to date information.