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SPEECH BY PRESIDENT ROBINSON ON THE LUNCHEON HOSTED BY IRISH/GEORGIA TRADE BOARD

SPEECH BY PRESIDENT ROBINSON ON THE LUNCHEON HOSTED BY THE IRISH TRADE BOARD/GEORGIA BOARD OF INDUSTRY TRADE AND TOURISM

Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great pleasure for me to address you here today in Atlanta.  I would like to thank the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism and the Irish Trade Board for giving me this welcome opportunity to meet with the leaders of the business community of Atlanta and the State of Georgia and to pay tribute to the great success and prosperity of this, the economic centre of the south eastern United States.

It is appropriate that we have this event today as this is a group which understands better than most the importance of international trade and the global marketplace.  Foreign trade is Ireland's lifeblood.  Almost 70% of GDP comes from exports and four out of five jobs in Irish manufacturing industry depend on the business we win abroad.  Ireland is fully committed to the principles of free trade and to the extension and development of free trade areas such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and we also wish to see a successful conclusion to the current U.S. trade negotiations with Japan.  As fellow international traders you will feel the same way.

Ireland has benefited enormously from our free trade access to the European market.  Our entry into the then European Community in 1973 was an important stage in the transformation of Ireland's economy into the modern industrial successful international trading nation of today.  The markets of the European Union now take 80% of Irish exports.  With further expansion in 1995, the European Union will be the largest and most prosperous economic trading area in the world.

Ireland and the United States of course also enjoy a close and mutually beneficial trading relationship - as you would expect between two countries with such historic ties.  Two-way trade exceeds seven billion dollars annually and four hundred U.S. companies have based their European operations in Ireland.

The links between Ireland and the south eastern U.S. particularly Georgia, are becoming ever stronger.  The direct air link between Atlanta, Shannon and Dublin by DELTA has been of great benefit in this process.  Three Irish State organisations are represented in Atlanta - The Irish Trade Board who arranged today's lunch in co-operation with Georgia's Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, The Irish Industrial Development Agency and the Irish Tourist Board.

Seven Irish companies now have their North America base in the Atlanta area and in Ireland we have companies from Georgia such as Coca Cola, Elan, First Data, Digital Communications and Riverside Manufacturing and numerous others from Florida, Alabama and the Carolinas.

So we have in place a very good foundation for further expansion in business between this region and Ireland - two trade orientated business communities, each a member of one of the largest free trading areas in the world - NAFTA and the European Union.  The potential is vast and I believe well within reach.

I would encourage Irish and U.S. companies to avail of each other's access to these enormous markets by forming business alliances.  Not every company is in a position to establish a factory in its overseas markets.  For many, the difficulties of dealing with an unfamiliar and distant market can be very daunting, notwithstanding the opportunities.  For buyers also, there are perceived risks associated with placing business with someone on another continent.  These obstacles can be particularly great for U.S. companies selling in Europe, where language must also be addressed.

The attraction of using Ireland as a marketing base for Europe is very clear.  For Irish companies - small as well as large - doing business throughout Europe is a daily event.  We have the market access, the knowledge and the language skills.  We can also offer ease of communication through English with companies from the United States and of course we have strong cultural ties which makes for comfortable relationships.

So for those interested in the European market, but who do not wish to make direct investments overseas, I would encourage you to consider a marketing alliance with an Irish company.  Such arrangements require little investment and can, almost at a stroke, open the door to the dynamic and richly rewarding market of the European Union.

The Irish Trade Board is happy to act as a "broker" in such matters and will be pleased to help you identify potential Irish partners.

Such investments and alliances can be encouraged by the very optimistic assessments and forecasts for the Irish economy.  You may have seen an article in the International Herald Tribune of three weeks ago which proclaimed that there is a "great economic story in Ireland" where the leading investment banking group Morgan Stanley, in its recent outlook on Ireland, comments very favourably on our growth levels, our low inflation rate and the falling debt levels.

Prospects for this year and for the second half of the decade are very encouraging, with the economy set to grow at a rate of 5½ per cent of GDP in 1994 and by close to 5 per cent up to the end of the decade.  Growth rates of this magnitude will be about three times the expected average for the European Union as a whole, and are amongst the highest in the OECD.

Continued low inflation, of 2½ per cent for 1994, and sound fiscal management will continue to underpin low interest rates and exchange rate stability and lay the basis for strong and sustainable growth in investment, output and employment.  We have a trade surplus, which is amongst the highest, proportionately, in the European Union, and we look forward to a stronger than expected growth in our export markets, particularly in continental Europe, while the recovery in North American markets is also being sustained.

Our unemployment levels at 15½ per cent are still far too high, but thankfully these numbers have been falling in recent months and this welcome trend should be set to continue.

It is not only the positive economic trends which have generated an air of optimism in Ireland recently.  For the first time, in at least a generation, and perhaps longer, we have the chance not just to see an end to the violence arising out of the Northern conflict but to create a basis for agreement that will enable all the people of Ireland to emerge from the shadow of a troubled and difficult history.  The peace dividend of such an agreement can be great not only on the political but also on the economic front where the expansion of trade and investment between North and South, and the improved climate for increasing exports, inward investment and tourism can make a considerable contribution towards economic prosperity in both parts of the island.

In concluding, may I reiterate once again my pleasure at being your guest here in Atlanta and having the opportunity to experience the legendary Southern hospitality at first hand.