The Primerus Paradigm - Spring 2016 Page 38

T H E P R I M E R U S P A R A D I G M

Ireland: The Number One Destination for
Foreign Direct Investment

FDI and the Irish Economy

Ireland is the leading onshore European
Union (EU) Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD)
white-listed location for Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI), and 2015 was a record
year for FDI into Ireland.
Ireland was identified as the
number one destination for U.S. foreign
direct investment in a 2014 report
commissioned by the American Chamber
of Commerce in Ireland.
The Irish economy is enjoying
a period of renewed growth. Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 5.2
percent in 2014 and by an estimated

6 percent last year. The biggest driver
of Ireland's economic success is FDI.
As the most globalized country in the
western world, Ireland's export industry
is thriving, which is not surprising
given some of the following independent
analysis:

"In the top five best countries to do
business" Forbes Magazine 2014;

"Number one in the world for
investment incentives" IMD World
Competitiveness Yearbook 2014;

"Best place to invest in Western
Europe" Site Selection magazine
2014;

"World's most globalised country"
KOF Globalisation List 2015;

"In the top 10 most innovative
countries in the world" - (2015
Global Innovations Index (GII));and

"World leader in attracting high
value FDI projects" IBM Global
Locations Trends 2015.

The figures speak for themselves:

U.S .companies have invested

240

billion in FDI in Ireland;

130,000 people are employed in
U.S. companies in Ireland. Those
companies have invested more than
$277 billion in Ireland since 1990;

U.S. companies in Ireland export over
$80 billion in goods and services
annually (4 times more than US
Companies in China);

U.S. FDI in Ireland increased by
42 percent in the first nine months

of 2014 to $37bn. During the same
period, total investment to Europe fell
19 percent to $115 billion;

Research & Development (R&D)
outlay by U.S. affiliates in Ireland
more than doubled between 2000
and 2012 from $465 million to $1.5
billion; and

U.S. assets in Ireland total $1.2 trillion.

So it's easy to understand why Ireland
is home to:

Nine of the world's top 10
pharmaceutical companies;

Nine of the world's top 10 global
software companies;

13 of the world's top 15 medical
technology companies;

60 percent of the world's top financial
services companies; and

Management of 50 percent of the
world's fleet of leased aircraft.

Industrial Development Authority
(IDA) Ireland, the Irish State Agency
responsible for stimulating, supporting
and developing export led business and
enterprise in Ireland, approved 110
investment projects in Ireland in the first
six months of 2015.
Some recent FDI announcements
include:

Apple will be expanding its campus
in Hollyhill, County Cork, and adding
a new building for 1,000 additional
employees by mid-2017;

Google has begun construction on
a new

150 million Data Centre at

Profile Park in West Dublin;

International Europe, Middle East & Africa

Dominic Conlon

is the head of Leman Solicitors'

corporate department. He specializes in financial
technology (or Fintech), and he has advised
many of Ireland's largest financial institutions,
corporations and technology companies over
the last 20 years.

Leman Solicitors
8-34 Percy Place
Dublin, Ireland 4

+353.1.639.3000 Phone
+353.1.639.3001 Fax

dconlon@leman.ie
leman.ie

Dominic Conlon