Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, is on a five-day mission in the USA this week in a bid to stoke up foreign investment in Ireland and to create new jobs here.
During the visit the minister will hold one-on-one meetings with senior executives of 19 US companies to discuss proposals for investment and job creation in Ireland. The trade mission to New York, New Jersey and Boston is organised by the IDA. Over half the companies already have operations in Ireland, employing a total of 20,000 people.
The minister is also to be interviewed by US media representatives from the Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones, the New York Times and Fox Business Network, and will also meet with key business leaders, to communicate to the United States the message that Ireland is open for business.
The minister stated: “There are approximately 500 US companies in Ireland, which directly employ over 100,000 people and account for over 70 per cent of total employment by foreign companies here. Technology, financial services and life sciences are sectors where US investment in Ireland has traditionally been strong: Eight of the top 10 US ICT corporations, nine of the top 10 global pharmaceutical corporations, and 17 of the top 25 global medical devices corporations have operations in Ireland.
“My aim is to broaden our base and that is why I am travelling to the key centres of Boston and New York to meet senior executives of 19 companies selected by the IDA as targets for potential investment and job creation in Ireland. My hope is that I will be able to announce concrete plans for further jobs and investment in Ireland from these companies in the near future.”
