IRISH SUPPLEMENT by MM

irish SUPPLEMENT

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Ambassador’s message

President’s message

t. Patrick's Day 2012 Message from President Michael D. Higgins I wish to send warm greetings on this St.Patrick's Day to Irish people at home and abroad and to our wider Irish family around the world. St Patrick's Day is an opportunity for the global Irish family, wherever they are living, to joyously acknowledge our shared heritage and culture and to celebrate and make our commitment to an Irishness of which we all can be proud. The life story of St. Patrick is one of perseverance through adversity, generosity overcoming cruelty and a people being transformed through the power of spiritual idealism. Just as St. Patrick brought a vision of hope and renewal to his people, we in our time have our own Aisling - our dream of a better, kinder, fairer shared world. In pursuing this dream, we build on firm foundations and draw from old wisdoms.We Irish are a creative, resourceful, talented and warm people, with a firm sense of decency and justice. The natural strengths that have built and continue to enhance our reputation include our community spirit, social solidarity, rich culture, humanitarian and peacekeeping work abroad and our powerful bond with the global Irish family. The Irish are a diasporic people and we are both proud of what they have achieved in their adopted homelands and grateful for their continuing commitment

President Michael D. Higgins to their homeland of birth or origin. On this day, we think in particular of those Irish men and women who, over recent years, have been separated from their homeland through involuntary emigration. While wishing them happy and fulfilled lives in their new countries, we firmly hope that economic circumstances will in time allow them to consider returning home to Ireland - to their families and friends who cherish them so dearly. On St. Patrick's Day, it is our shared culture that is at the heart of our celebrations as we

come together to enjoy the best of Irish literature, music, dance and pageantry. The fact that these forms of artistic expression enjoy international appeal enhances our sense of joy and pride. Even more joyful is that, in keeping with the inclusive and generous spirit of St. Patrick, our celebrations accommodate all ages, all communities and all ethnicities. Our love for life and our sense of fun are also constants, as is our core value system that extols pride of place, community cohesion, intergenerational solidarity and an innate spirit of hope and optimism. In celebrating our Irishness, we also remember that the Irish are an enterprising and resilient people. While navigating very difficult economic conditions, we refuse to succumb to defeat or fatalism. This indefatigable spirit has in the past ensured our survival and is now a source of our creativity and purpose. It will again be a vital force in regenerating a sustainable economy, securing a fairer and happier society, renewing the Republic and making Ireland a country of which we can be even more proud. All of the Irish and those who are with them, wherever they may be and in whatever circumstances, are in all our thoughts on this day we share with the world. I wish all of you a very happy and peaceful St.Patrick's Day. Michael D. Higgins President of Ireland

would like to thank the Arab News and its dedicated staff for this opportunity to commemorate Ireland’s national day in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is believed that it was in 432 A.D. that St. Patrick first brought Christianity to Ireland and the Irish people have always celebrated that event right up to the present day. Irish men and women can now be found in all corners of the globe and on St.Patrick’s Day we like to think that all our good friends everywhere become as Irish as ourselves. Relations in every sphere between Ireland and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have progressed enormously in recent years. While bilateral trade ties have increased significantly, it is on the people-topeople level that we have really seen the greatest developments. A significant number of Saudi students are now attending Irish universities and other third level colleges. They are creating a whole new understanding and warmth for Saudi Arabia among people in all parts of Ireland. At the same time, increasing numbers of skilled Irish personnel are being welcomed to the Kingdom and

sharing their expertise as teachers, engineers, architects, nurses and in other professional capacities. One of the reasons for the availability of professional expertise from Ireland at present is of course the regrettable difficulties facing the Irish economy arising from the global financial crisis. Although the fundamentals of the Irish economy remain strong and vibrant, the collapse of the property market in Ireland has resulted in large debts being incurred by the Irish banking system that have had to be subsumed by the national exchequer. In collaboration with our international partners, however, firm measures have now been put in place that will help to reduce and restructure this high level of debt. As a result, costs have been reduced significantly throughout the economy leading to increased competitiveness and a return to export-led growth. Our trade with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries is accordingly a very important element for Ireland in restoring the health of our economy. On the political level, Ireland’s bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia remain warm and mutually beneficial. Ireland shares many

Niall Holohan common positions with Saudi Arabia on such important issues as the right of the Palestinian people to an independent sovereign state and the desire to see the Middle East declared a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. Finally, I should mention – with the summer holidays not all that far away — that Ireland has many wonderful tourist attractions for our Saudi friends. While the temperatures may be cooler than they would experience elsewhere at that time of the year, the warmth of the welcome they will find in Ireland will make Saudi visitors of all ages feel very much at home. Niall Holohan Ambassador of Ireland

Message from Ireland’s Trade and Investment Agency

he Irish economy is growing again, our public finances are under control and the government is using its strong political mandate to build upon this to deliver longterm, sustainable growth. We are on track to bring the deficit below 3 percent of Gross

Domestic Product by 2015. We have restructured and recapitalized our banking systems. Labor costs have improved. New initiatives have been launched to boost job creation. The economy returned to growth last year with the balance of payments back in surplus.

This growth has been predominantly export-led with export levels at their highest ever. This is due to improvements in competitiveness and to Ireland’s enduring attractiveness as a destination for foreign direct investment, underpinned by our 12 percent corporation tax rate and our place in

Europe. Ireland has consistently achieved — or exceeded — all of the targets set in the EU, ECB, IMF program of assistance and we are on track to emerge from the program in 2013. The notional cost of government borrowing has halved since last year and Ireland is now Europe’s

best prospect for a program country to return to the bond market. Ireland ranks first worldwide in terms of the value of projects and investment it attracts, according to the IBM Global Location Trends Report. The World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ report for 2011 found

Ireland to be the most supportive business environment in the euro area. Ireland is home to: Nine of the top 10 global pharmaceuticals corporations; over 50 percent of the world’s leading financial services firms; and 10 of the top ‘Born on the Internet’ companies.

Recent investments include Abbott, Eli-Lilly, MasterCard, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft and PayPal. A new “Succeed-in-Ireland” initiative will offer rewards for introductions to overseas companies, primarily in the internationally expanding SME sector.

commitment. Three reasons to choose us:

PM Group has been working in the Gulf since 2008 and now has offices in Riyadh and Dubai.

Irish expertise — local presence

M Group, the Irish headquartered, international engineering firm with offices in Riyadh and Dubai, stresses how important product quality and food safety are to every successful food manufacturing business across the globe. The high price of failing to deliver consistently on quality and safety has been all too apparent over the past few years with well-publicized product recalls in the US and Europe costing tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue and causing immeasurable damage to the reputation of the brands involved. The issue of food safety in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the wider Gulf region was also high on the agenda at Gulfood 2012, the annual industry conference held in the Dubai International Exhibition Centre. Despite the enforcement of numerous quality and food safety regulations, however, the potential for infactory contamination and nonconformance is now greater than ever. As consumer tastes continue to evolve and products become more sophisticated, the processes and conditions required to guarantee consistent qual-

ity throughout the production lifecycle and beyond have become increasingly complex.

GMP — cost effective

The holistic implementation of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practise) — from initial intake of raw materials through the various processes and unit operations right through to the logistics chain — is the most cost-effective means of guaranteeing product quality and safety for food manufacturers.

Best practice

GMP combines the stringent best practice standards of high-end hygienic factory design with the latest lean manufacturing methodologies and has been successfully implemented by PM Group on a wide range of bespoke green and brownfield projects for some of the world’s leading food producers over the past two decades. Changing consumer tastes, particularly the trend toward fresh, wholesome valueadded produce, pose a significant ongoing challenge for producers who are under constant pressure to develop new products to meet demand. Many of these products are both time and temperature-sensitive and any quality or safety nonconfor-

mances, particularly in areas such as infant nutrition or products boasting health-enhancing benefits, could potentially prove disastrous for manufacturers. GMP plays a key role in preventing potential non-conformance issues by ensuring that all processes meet the latest best practice standards. Recognized as one of the world’s leading food engineering companies, PM Group also provides specialist engineering and project management services to the data centre, education, healthcare and commercial sectors. “PM Group has been working in the Gulf since 2008 and now has offices in Riyadh and Dubai,” said Donal Hutchinson, managing director-MENA, PM Group. “We have been working with the Saudi Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), significant stakeholders in food safety. Recent projects also include the design of the 46,000sqm infant nutritional facility in Riyadh for Almarai; a major $45m development project for Halwani Bros; the development of a data center for the King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Public Education Development Project; a new multimillion dollar confectionary facility for US multinational, Mars as well as work with French food group, Danone.”

Expertise

Design

People

PM Group/Devereux have the expertise, design excellence and people to deliver your project. From our offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, we can offer you over 35 years world class experience delivering a global service locally. We are specialists in the food, healthcare, education and data centre sectors and also provide project management services to all sectors. Through our dedicated team we will work with you to get the best results for your project. Contact us: Donal Hutchinson, PM Group e: donal.hutchinson@pmgroup-global.com www.pmgroup-global.com

Engineers | Architects | Project Managers

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