Dublin City Council Conference entitled “Building Bridges through Capital Cities”

on Thursday 7^th April 2005 at 9am

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of the Irish Government it is my very great pleasure to welcome you all here. We are particularly pleased to see such a strong representation from our new EU Partners, one year after we had the honour of formally welcoming ten new countries into the EU here in Dublin on the ‘Day of Welcomes’.

For us, the expansion of the EU to welcome the countries of central Europe was an event of enormous importance. It symbolised the reunion of a European community which had been artificially divided for fifty years. It symbolised the re-opening of the lines of communication which had for so long been key to Europe’s strength.

Most of all, it symbolised our common intention to join together and build on our strengths to create a zone of peace and prosperity across Europe to the benefit of all.

To my mind, the European Union could never have been complete without the participation of our partners from central Europe. Now that we have managed to get over the past, it is time for us to look forward, to recognise our strengths and to ensure that Europe can never again fall prey to the divisions of the past.

Politically, a Union of twenty-five members, soon to be twenty-seven, represents significant strength within the world. I believe that we can use that strength to good effect in the furtherance of the fundamental principles which we all hold – the importance of democracy, the rule of law and human rights, the importance of a stable international system based on respect for international law, the rights of peoples and nations to self-expression.

However, as Minister with responsibility for trade, it is in the economic sphere that I am most active, and I like to think that in the economic sphere Europe has potential which remains to be tapped. The expansion of the EU is a key step towards reaching that potential, as it expands the Single Market to an additional seventy-five million people.

The Single Market is the EU’s key achievement in many ways. It is the clear expression of our intention to allow our citizens and our companies to work freely together, in competition and in cooperation, to allow all of us to reach our economic potential.

Ireland is an excellent example of how the Single Market benefits citizens. Before joining the EU, we had an underdeveloped and mainly agrarian economy, characterised by low levels of entrepreneurship, low levels of innovation and high levels of unemployment and emigration. We have been able to change that situation by taking advantage of what the EU, and most specifically the Single Market, has to offer.

Through the attraction of investment to take advantage of the market we have created employment, wealth and knowledge. By using the funds which EU membership made available to us, we have invested in physical infrastructure and, just as importantly, in the education and skills of our people which will allow us to build a sound economic base for the future.

Developing our exports has been crucial to our economic growth. During the 1990’s, for example, our exports more than quadrupled, and they remain on a growth trajectory. The Single Market, as it is now constituted, accounts for two-thirds of our total exports.

The ten new members of the Single Market, however, account for a much smaller proportion of our exports, at slightly under 1% of the total. This, I have to say, is disappointing and it highlights the enormous potential which remains to be exploited between Ireland and our ten new EU partners. I am keen to ensure that that potential is exploited, and I have been active in promoting exports to central Europe.

In areas in which Irish companies excel – such as the IT sector – we have seen some significant successes in recent times. For instance, in the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Irish software companies are active in the mobile telecoms and banking sectors.

Irish companies have also invested in the Baltic States, notably in the textiles sector, where our combined strengths can enable Irish companies and local partners to achieve strong international sales.

The movement of a substantial portion of the contract electronics manufacturing industry to Hungary and (although not yet within the Single Market) Romania has created both a major challenge and opportunity for Irish SMEs in the electronics and engineering sub-supply, logistics and supply chain management sub-sectors. Already, a number of Irish investors have established manufacturing facilities in both countries and are adding to the dynamism increasingly evident in this sector in central Europe.

As an example of the potential for direct investment in production sites in this region, Kingspan’s new facility near Budapest will be in full operation and officially opened in April. Other major Irish investment includes Kerry Hungaria in the agri-business sector, and companies like M&M Qualtech (electronics) and Duolog Technologies (software engineering).

In the Czech Republic, Irish companies are active in all sectors, including the food industry, IT and telecommunications and financial services.

Poland – the largest of the new EU Member States and probably our largest economic partner in the region – represents opportunity for Irish companies across the range of economic sectors. This year alone, six Irish companies have opened operations in Poland, and the cumulative value of Irish investment in Poland is around €1.5 billion.

Of course, trade is a two-way process, and we are also anxious to ensure that our new partners are able to take advantage of the opportunities in Ireland. We have an extremely open economy, with high levels of investment, exports and also imports, both consumer goods and industrial products. As I have said, I believe that the key to the EU’s future is to harness the strengths which we have in different areas and I encourage you all to examine the potential of Ireland for your companies.

I hope that this conference will help to advance the process of building relations between Ireland and our new Partners. The protocol of friendship which you will sign this evening symbolizes our interest in building our relations with you. Building our relations is the only way to ensure our future, economic and political.

It only remains for me to once again welcome you to Ireland and to express the hope that you will have a very productive and enjoyable visit. I would also like to take the opportunity to congratulate the organizers of this event, Dublin City Council and the Dublin European Information Centre on their initiative.

Thank you.

ENDS/TC140