Indeed, in a dynamic competitive global landscape, the Ministers should seek ways to enhance Ireland’s attractiveness to FDI in order to retain and grow the level of investment from multinational enterprises.
Ireland’s competitive edge
Ireland’s competitiveness as a place to do business will become even more important as we face into anticipated recessions at home and in key export markets such as the UK, which remains a key export market despite the negative impacts of Brexit.
While Irish organisations have continued to diversify their export markets in recent years, that will not provide protection from a global recession where margins are likely to be squeezed to the limit. That simply highlights the critical need to ensure that Ireland offers a cost competitive, highly innovative, and supportive environment for businesses to be able to continue to compete successfully in international markets.
Questions have been asked in relation to the Government’s role in relieving some of the supply chain pressures faced by businesses, particularly in the construction sector. There is certainly very little direct action that the Ministers can take on Budget Day, but continuing indirect support for businesses in their efforts to diversify sources of supply will be important.
The Government is supporting those businesses through its network of embassies, Enterprise Ireland, and other government bodies, all of which are working hard to open up new trade routes to facilitate a broader range of procurement options. Very importantly, these efforts could also help to mitigate some of the upward inflationary pressure being felt at present.