Enterprise Ireland Business Breakfast, Mexico

Enterprise Ireland Business Breakfast

Remarks by Michael D. Higgins President of Ireland

Hotel Presidente Intercontinental, Mexico City

Tuesday, 22nd October 2013

Estimado Secretario Guajuardo, Estimado Sub Secretario de Rosensweig, Excelencias, Señoras y Señores,

Les agradezco su presencia esta mañana. Es un gran honor para mí tener la oportunidad de visitar este país tan dinámico y vibrante como Presidente de Irlanda.

[Thank you for joining us here this morning. It is a great honour for me to have the opportunity, as President of Ireland, to visit this vibrant and dynamic country.]

Como mencionó el Ministro Costello, es un placer dar la bienvenida esta mañana a los representantes de las empresas irlandesas, pero en particular a nuestros invitados mexicanos.

[As Minister Costello has said, we are delighted to welcome this morning representatives of Irish companies, but in particular to welcome our Mexican guests.]

Es un honor para nosotros contar con la presencia del Secretario Guajardo y el Sub Secretario de Rosensweig. Valoro enormemente su participación y el duro trabajo que la Secretaría de Economía y la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores llevan a cabo para profundizar el desarrollo de la relación entre México e Irlanda a todos los niveles.

[We are honoured to have Secretario Guajardo and Sub Secretario de Rosensweig with us here today. I am very appreciative of the engagement, the hard work, of the Secretaría de Economía and the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores in deepening the development of the relationship between Mexico and Ireland at every level.]

Those of us in the Irish delegation wish also to extend our appreciation to the representatives here this morning from ProMexico and COMCE, and we welcome members from the Irish European Chamber of Commerce. These partners have been stalwart supporters of Ireland over many years and have worked unstintingly to encourage, develop and expand the economic, scientific and academic links between Ireland and Mexico.

It was in the Spring of 1967 that I first encountered the charm and cultural richness of this country. So many years later, in the brief time I spent in Mexico since our arrival on Saturday, I have been struck by the pace of the city and its people. The indelible impression is of a city – and a country – on the move: fast, agile, flexible and full of opportunity.

Mexico is, of course, a country of extraordinary diversity, a rich heritage from ancient civilisations and also full of the manifestations of the complexity that marked its later history. I had the pleasure of spending some time, on Sunday, in your magnificent Museum of Anthropology. Not a kilometre away from where we are sitting now, are the meticulously preserved, and beautifully presented, remnants of the extraordinary pre-Colombian civilisations that flourished in this part of the American continent for centuries.

Before moving on to twenty-first century considerations, allow me to commend this country for the priority that it gives to protecting its rich heritage. As a former Minister for Culture, I can attest that your international reputation for care of your national heritage is one that you can rightly be proud of. I also have no doubt that your appreciation of the rich diversity of your past adds depth and value to your contemporary society.

Ireland and Mexico are linked by many bonds – of history, of culture, of business and of education. However, I am convinced that both countries have much more to offer each other. We are far from having exhausted the possibility of our contemporary connections and my visit is just one further step towards realising them.

We are pleased that Ireland has a foothold in this important and vibrant market of Mexico. But we can do more. Significant opportunities remain for Irish businesses in Mexico. We also believe that there is unexplored potential in Ireland for Mexican businesses. I very much hope that more Irish and Mexican companies take up the reciprocal opportunities that exist to achieve mutual benefit for both countries.

Yesterday at the Palacio Nacional, President Peña Nieto and I spoke at some length during our bilateral discussions about how we can further boost trade and investment between Ireland and Mexico. Both governments are fully committed to making this dimension of our relationship an even greater priority.

Later this morning, I will travel to the Cumbre de Negocios in Guadalajara, where I will have the honour of being the first serving European Head of State or Government to address that prestigious forum. My message to the business, government and academic leaders from across Latin America who will be in attendance will be that Mexico is a valuable and valued partner for Ireland, and that Ireland should also be a valued partner of choice for Mexican business.

Some of Ireland’s most innovative and dynamic companies have already invested in Mexico. In sectors from agri-business to engineering to manufacturing to education to aviation, Irish companies are helping to build Mexico’s economy and create high quality jobs for its citizens. Many representatives of those businesses are here with us today, and I want to recognise your contribution to this country, as well as to your homeland of Ireland. We are proud of your achievements and hope that you will act as mentors to the many new Irish businesses that I hope to hear of entering the Mexican market.

Ladies and Gentlemen

As many of you here know, Ireland has gone through a significant economic and social upheaval over the last few years. The global financial crisis of 2008, together with the collapse of our domestic banking sector, the fruit of both a credit lending and property boom, led our country into a long and painful recession. We are working hard to rebalance our national economy and to return to a path of sustainable and inclusive growth. The encouraging news is that we are emerging from our difficulties and have returned to real, although still modest growth. Recent predictions thus suggest GDP growth of 1.8% in 2014 as against 0.2% this year.

As an open economy, we know that our future lies in a sustainable model of economy built on nurturing talented people, creating valuable goods and services, innovating and connecting to global partners, customers and investors in durable ways. While the economic shocks have affected us deeply, our recovery is underpinned by the resilient, creative and hardworking nature of our people.

Our recovery is also supported by our young, highly educated population who, in their age cohort, constitute the largest proportion of third level graduates across the entire European Union. We are convinced that, through the pursuit of excellence in education and business, we can continue to provide sustainable jobs, significantly reduce unemployment and achieve prosperity for our people.

The export sector in Ireland, and particularly the services export sector, is a key driver of our economic recovery. We are proud that the value of our exports last year exceeded the peaks reached before the economic crisis.

Irish exports to Mexico increased by 24% in 2012 and have continued to perform well above most of our other markets throughout 2013.

On a global level and in terms of value, Ireland exports slightly more in services than we do in goods. Nevertheless, our trade in services with Mexico last year was less than 10% of our merchandise trade. There is clearly scope for more of our exports – and our expertise – to engage with Mexican markets and business partners.

We want to support Irish companies in further growing their partnerships in Mexico and to encourage more companies to explore the Mexican market. Ireland has become a world leader in financial and ICT services, in agribusiness, and in biotech and life sciences: there are enormous opportunities for Mexican and Irish companies to collaborate more in each of these sectors.

Throughout the global economic upheaval of recent years, Ireland has continued to offer a very attractive base for international companies doing business in Europe. Last year, international companies in Ireland created more net new jobs than they had in a decade. More than 1,000 global companies have chosen Ireland as their European Headquarters, including household names such as eBay, Intel and Facebook. In the first half of this year alone, 70 leading international companies established or expanded their operations in Ireland. Today Ireland is home to:

• 9 of the world’s top 10 global pharmaceutical companies; • over 50% of the world’s leading financial services firms; • and 10 of the top “Born on the Internet” companies.

These companies continue to find what they need in Ireland – that is talented, educated and innovative people, an English-speaking country that is a member of the Eurozone, and a clear, transparent and efficient regulatory environment. In turn, the presence of so many international companies in Ireland, notably in the ICT and life sciences sectors, has stimulated the growth of clusters of innovative, entrepreneurial small and medium Irish companies, thereby fostering mutually beneficial exchanges of ideas and technologies.

Companies such as Twitter, Pfizer, Yahoo and Huawei all increased their existing operations in Ireland over the last 9 months including, crucially, through investment in significant new Research and Development activities.

Research, creativity and innovation are particular strengths of ours. While our Nobel laureates for literature – Yeats, Shaw, Beckett and Heaney – are very well known, we also have a track-record of scientific innovations. I am pleased to say that this found a further contemporary expression in recent weeks, with the launch by Intel of its latest micro chip. This chip, which was developed entirely in Ireland, will be sold across the world with each product bearing the trademark “designed in Ireland.”

Ireland looks forward to sharing this creativity and knowledge through the companies and educational institutions represented here this morning. We also want to build on the already very strong academic partnerships between Mexico and Ireland.

I have been hugely encouraged to watch the fast growing links between Mexican and Irish universities over the last few years. Five of our most respected universities are accompanying me on my visit to Mexico and are working with Mexican third level partners in areas from nano-technology to sustainable water management to business administration to electronic engineering. There is room for many more partnerships of this sort and I know that this will be a particular focus of the work of Enterprise Ireland and our embassy here in Mexico over the coming months.

We would like to see more Mexican companies join the US, European and Asian companies that have invested in Ireland and have, as a result, seen their operations throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa thrive. We suggest that Mexico look towards Ireland. A forthcoming opportunity that may be of interest to some of you here will be a seminar that the Lord Mayor of Dublin will host next year focused on Mexican businesses interested in exploring opportunities in Ireland. Ireland’s embassy in Mexico, or the Mexican embassy in Dublin, will, I know, be happy to put interested Mexican companies in touch with the organisers of this seminar.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

El domingo pasado, tuve el honor de asistir a la Plaza de San Jacinto para rendir tributo a la memoria del Batallón de San Patricio, que combatió y murió en la guerra de 1846 a 1848. Muchos de esos hombres vinieron de Irlanda y combatieron en las filas mexicanas del conflicto porque sentían una afinidad especial con este país y su pueblo. Como ex Ministro de Cultura, también me enorgullecen los lazos culturales entre nuestros países, incluyendo los vínculos literarios que, de diferentes formas, conectaron a nuestros premios nobel Samuel Beckett, Octavio Paz y Séamus Heaney.

[Last Sunday, I had the honour of standing in the Plaza de San Jacinto and paying tribute to the memory of the Batallón de San Patricio who fought and died in the war of 1846-48. Many of these men who came from Ireland fought on the Mexican side of that conflict because they felt a special affinity with this country and its people. As a former Minister of Culture, I am also very proud of the cultural links between our two countries, including the literary links that in different ways connected our Nobel laureates – Samuel Beckett, Octavio Paz and Séamus Heaney]

No menos orgulloso estoy de las alianzas que se están desarrollando entre nuestros países en las áreas de negocios y educación. Espero que mi visita a México no solo haya facilitado el fortalecimiento de esos vínculos existentes entre las empresas e instituciones educativas irlandesas y sus socios mexicanos, sino que también haya abierto puertas a nuevas alianzas, relaciones e ideas.

[I am equally proud of the partnerships that are developing between our two countries in areas of business and education. I very much hope that my visit to Mexico will not only have facilitated the strengthening of existing links between Irish businesses and educational institutions, and their Mexican partners, but also opened paths for new partnerships, new relationships and new ideas.]

Estoy convencido de que hay grandes oportunidades para un mayor compromiso, seguimiento y construcción de un vínculo aún más dinámico y creativo. Espero que las relaciones prosperen aún más en los años por venir.

[I am convinced that there are significant opportunities for increased engagement, for follow up and for the crafting of an ever more dynamic and creative relationship. I look forward to flourishing relations in the years ahead.]

Viva Irlanda! Viva México! Vivan las relaciones entre nuestros pueblos.

Muchas gracias.