Address by John McGuinness, T.D., at a dinner for the Irish Trade Mission to Russia

Tuesday 25th September 2007.

Ambassador Harman, guests, let me first of all extend to you the ancient Irish welcome of Céad Mile Fáilte, (one hundred thousand welcomes) and to our Russian friends the ancient salutation of their country, Dobree Ve-chair.

I am delighted to be here this evening. As Irelands Minister for Trade & Commerce, on behalf of the Irish participants and Enterprise Ireland I would like to express our thanks for and our appreciation of your welcome.

This is my first visit to Russia and it certainly feels like home. Signs of affluence and progress everywhere……..the traffic jams are spectacular, even better than the ones we have in Dublin. Perhaps the length of the traffic jams should be one of the measures of success of an economy, certainly by that measure alone I understand why Enterprise Ireland has arranged this trade mission.

The Irish companies here tonight, Enterprise Ireland and I, as Minister and as a representative of the Irish Government, are here to build, strengthen and create ties and relationships with Russian companies and individuals to our mutual advantage. We are very serious about that.

We are here to tell you we want your business and that we appreciate the business we are already doing with you. Russia is one of the world’s largest economies. It is a huge and growing market. It is a market that none can ignore………, forgetting Jose Muriniho for a moment. There are exceptions to every rule. Irish companies, with the help and support of the Irish Government, are determined to have their share of this market, and anyone else’s share that we can get our hands on.

But aspiration and ambition is not enough. We know we have to convince you that we can meet your needs, beat your deadlines and provide backing and support at attractive competitive prices. But the first step, a very important step, in that process, is to show you that we have the experience and the confidence necessary to take on major projects, overcome obstacles and provide cutting edge, innovative solutions.

I am proud, as an Irishman and as a Minister in the Irish Government, to be able to say to you that Irish business is now facing not just Russia, but the world, with confidence, a confidence borne of success on the international commercial stage over many years.

Irish companies are now very successful and ambitious players in the global marketplace. We do not fear competition. As a small economy, we have built our success on an acceptance that only change is certain and if we are to grow and compete we must be dynamic, innovative and competitive. We have learned that being a very small economy in world terms is an incentive and an advantage.

A mouse in an elephant house reacts fast, learns quickly and develops strategies to avoid being sat on.

In fact, Ireland is a significant participant in the global business world, despite the fact that we have a small population and limited natural resources. We are there partly because our Irish Diaspora brought the world into our kitchens - New York, Sydney, Paris and London were some of the postmarks on letters delivered to small towns and villages throughout Ireland in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. We were everywhere and, as times got better, travel made those places, in fact it made the world, familiar to more and more of our people. We are confident about crossing borders and relate easily to new cultures. We have also learnt from the culture of the huge number of international businesses who have chosen Ireland as their home. They have further encouraged our risk taking abilities and our understanding of how to deal with change. And we have learned those lessons well.

But it wasn’t just those experiences which made Ireland the remarkable success story it is today. It was our lack of fear in the face of great challenges, our highly educated population and a unique Irish ability, indeed desire, to foster and maintain the strong relationships which create trust and confidence in a partnership. We are a trading nation and we know just how important trust and confidence are.

We see great potential in Russia as your economy expands and drives growth in your communications, banking and telecommunications sectors. We see opportunities in I.T., healthcare and pharmaceuticals, in the service sector, in construction, engineering and aerospace and in automotive and technology transfer.

Underpinning our efforts to secure a place in your markets, is a highly educated workforce, the confidence borne of many years of success in penetrating and serving international markets; the experience of, and skills required by new age industries now at our disposal and the strong backing of a government which is fully committed to supporting Irish agencies and companies in their worldwide quest for new business.

I am encouraged also to see several Irish education institutes represented here this evening. They are here to promote Ireland as a destination for graduate or post graduate education, and for quality English language training. Today Ireland is a world leader in education, backed by the high standard of our education services, internationally respected qualifications and an enviable record for training.

Indeed, nothing demonstrates more our ability to turn disadvantage into opportunity than the fact that we are now teaching English to a growing number of foreign students.

Our host tonight, Enterprise Ireland, is the energetic and successful trade and technology agency of the Irish Government. It works with both Irish companies and business interests here in Russia, and around the world, to develop trade and partnership. Enterprise Ireland’s skills are many and their connections in Ireland and abroad are extensive. I would encourage both the Irish and Russian companies here this evening to make full use of their ability to source quality goods and services.

Tonight, in Moscow, a beautiful city to which I will certainly return, all of us are building on old relationships or embarking on new ones, reinforcing ties or taking the first tentative steps towards the trust and understanding upon which partnerships are built.

We have common ground: a love of poetry, literature and dance, indeed a great love of life and the ability to enjoy it. You have Chekhov, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky to mention but a few. We have Beckett, Joyce, Yeats and Oscar Wilde, who once famously told an American customs officer who asked had he anything to declare, that he had nothing but his genius, which is not much different, although far more elegantly expressed, than what I have been telling you tonight.

Thank you very much, enjoy the rest of your evening.

ENDS/TC289