Speech by Minister McGuinness at the Launch of Enterprise Week, 10 September 2007

I am delighted to be here today in Clonmel to launch the South-East Enterprise Week on behalf of the Region’s “Spirit of Enterprise Forum”.

Enterprise Week is, of course, an initiative that arose out of the entrepreneurial process which has been ongoing in the Region since February, 2006.

A strong entrepreneurship culture is increasingly being recognised as one of the key drivers of economic growth. If the Government’s vision and policies for continuing this growth is based on attracting foreign investment into Ireland, it is becoming ever more clear that we must foster and develop a strong and vibrant entrepreneurial enterprise sector to support it.

An entrepreneurial mindset needs to be backed up with an economic environment that is supportive of business formation and growth. We need to ensure that aspiring entrepreneurs can find the information, the finance and managerial capabilities they need to help them establish and sustain their enterprise. ‘Enterprise Week’ in the South East goes along way to wards providing this.

The South East of Ireland is a natural window on Europe: the Region’s port and road access network is ideal for export- oriented enterprise to grow and develop. This is backed up by a uniquely balanced urban structure to support employment and enterprise development. The quality of life and of the natural environment are also of a high standard. In the past 10 years for example the population has grown nearly 20 per cent, and is expected to grow a further10 per cent by 2020, with almost one-half of us living in urban areas. The value of output per person in this region is now well ahead of average of the European Union, having been below it only 8 years ago. In many other areas of economic measurement the South East has made steady progress, notably in the labour participation rates. This means that more men, and especially women, are working in this region than 10 years ago.

In addition, infrastructure in the form of Third-level Institutes, Enterprise Centres and Technology Parks, make the Region ideal for innovation, investment and enterprise expansion. So, South East is a good place to grow your business.

The Government is committed to supporting and developing the small business sector. Small business accounts for 40 per cent of employment in manufacturing and services, is an essential infrastructure support to larger and foreign investment operations here. It is also the seedbed of high-growth enterprises of the future.

The Government, for example, supports small enterprise development through the City and County Enterprise network through the Enterprise Ireland agency – clearly demonstrating its faith in the good work being done by Boards over the years.

Support for people engaged in enterprise, whether through direct grant-aid or indirectly through business training and education, is an investment in sustaining our future prosperity and progress, to the benefit of all.

The “Spirit of Enterprise Forum” was formed as a result of a number of EU projects being managed by both the South-East Regional Authority and the Centre for Entrepreneurship in Waterford Institute of Technology which all concerned the theme of Enterprise and Innovation. Inputs were sought from all relevant stakeholders in the Region. A small operational committee was established comprising representatives from Enterprise Ireland, the City and County Enterprise Boards in the Region, the Local Authorities as well as the South East Regional Authority and Waterford Institute of Technology and so the idea of developing a South-East Enterprise Forum was born.

The South-East Enterprise Forum is all about supporting the development of the existing Small and Medium Sized Enterprise base in the Region, the creation of new companies and jobs and the promotion of innovation, enterprise and an entrepreneurial culture – i.e. espousing a ‘Spirit of Enterprise’.

At its simplest level it is an information sharing exercise. Many of you here today and your organisations are working on implementing a large number of initiatives addressing various elements of enterprise development. These are all very worthwhile, and they make a valuable contribution, in their own right, but, is there a possibility due to a lack of information, that a project could be replicating something similar carried out elsewhere? Alternatively, could it complement an initiative taking place at the same time? The Forum acts as a knowledge transfer base within the region between agencies and organisations for the sharing of intelligence and expertise.

However, the Enterprise Forum is also much more. It is:

• A Platform to develop a common vision for the South-East Region from an enterprise perspective,
• A Meeting Place to discuss existing and future ideas, projects and initiatives towards this common vision,
• A Vehicle to bring local projects to a regional/national level,
• A Catalyst to identify projects that will benefit the region as a whole, and
• A Place where projects are aligned, duplication is eliminated and common approaches are established.

The Forum, which has already met five times, is comprised of interested parties involved in the promotion and encouragement of innovation, enterprise and entrepreneurship in the South-East Region. It includes relevant State agencies, public and private bodies involved in this sector and, most importantly, entrepreneurs and representatives of the client base the Forum is ultimately trying to influence. Up to now these players have been working together on a formal and semi-formal basis. The Forum is, for the first time, bringing all these interested parties together.

In the past, the South-East has heard criticism of the Region’s inability to speak with one voice on important regional issues. The Forum will strive to be the one voice for enterprise and entrepreneurial development in the South-East.

The Enterprise Forum constitutes a flexible and fluid vehicle that will adjust and respond to changes and advancements in the Region’s economic environment. It involves partnership, collaboration and trust by all the organisations and entities involved. The Forum is an open and non-judgmental arena in which participants can raise and discuss issues and receive feedback from its members.

Enterprise Week takes place from the 1^st to 5^th October 2007 and, as the first collaborative initiative of the “Spirit of Enterprise Forum” it will demonstrate further the cooperation that is now taking place in the Region. All agencies and organisations are coming together to celebrate and promote enterprise in the Region through hosting a series of events and activities throughout the week.

As part of Enterprise Week, a number of workshops, seminars, business briefings and much more have been organised in each of the five counties in the South-East to promote enterprise and innovation in the Region. We expect local businesses, people with a business idea and the public at large to participate during the week. I expect that they will find the presentations and discussions both stimulating and rewarding.

Finally, I look forward to all of you embracing the ‘Spirit of Enterprise’ ethos and logo in a spirit of co-operation and partnership for the future development of the South-East and I wish you every success with the first of hopefully many Enterprise Weeks in the Region.

ENDS/TC287