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IEA Encourages Irish Services Companies to Increase Intra-EU Business –
Charlie McCreevy Awarded Trade Facilitation Gold Medal
LtoR:Mr. Liam Shanahan, IEA President, Mr. Charlie McCreevy, Trade Facilitation Gold Medal Recipient, Mr. Alan Duffy, HSBC Corporate Banking Ireland
At the Irish Exporters Association (IEA) annual President’s Lunch, sponsored by HSBC Corporate Banking Ireland), the growing importanceof exports of internationally trade services in creating new and sustainable jobs was the main topic as President of the Association, Mr LiamShanahan, outlined why the recent EU Services Directive represents significant growth opportunities for Irish Services companies.
According to Mr Shanahan services currently account for around 70% of all EU economic output, while at the same time only accounting for 24% of intra-EU trade. “This difference in percentages has been brought about by vested interests supporting the local status quo in individual countries,” said Mr Shanahan. He noted that things have recently changed and the Services Directive which, was piloted through the 27 countries of the EU by Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, came into effect in January of this year. The introduction of the Services Directive has eased the way for more intra-EU trade in services and additional opportunities for Irish services companies.
“Put simply, the objective of the Services Directive is to release the untapped cross-border trade in services across Europe by removing legal and administrative barriers that had been in place,” said Mr Shanahan. He added that Irish services exports to the EU currently stand at €45 billion, with exports to the UK accounting for 43% of this total. “It has been estimated that the value of Irish services exports could rise by €10-14 billion per annum across the EU 27 now that the Services Directive has come into force,” he said.
“Achieving growth of this magnitude depends very much on Ireland’s ability to bring wage costs and enterprise costs rapidly into line with those of other European countries. At the Irish Exporters Association we acknowledge that this will be a major challenge for managers in both the private and public sectors, but believe that dodging the medicine today will inevitably weaken the patient for tomorrow when robust good health will be essential in breaking out of the current recession and into a period of real growth,” said Mr Shanahan. He noted that the Irish Exporters Association remains confident that the Services sector will dominate the job creation picture with 120,000 net new jobs in the decade to 2020.
The Irish Exporters Association, which has at its aim the promotion of exports and the reduction of barriers to international trade, awarded its Trade Facilitation Gold Medal for 2010 to Mr Charlie McCreevy, former European Commissioner, for his success in pushing through the Services Directive which offers enormous opportunities for Irish Services companies to sell their services in all of the countries of the European Union. Mr Shanahan thanked Charlie McCreevy for his diligence in securing the Services Directive and said that Charlie McCreevy was, indeed, a worthy recipient of Trade Facilitation Ireland’s Gold Medal.
To coincide with the presentation of the Trade Facilitation Gold Medal to Mr Charlie McCreevy the Irish Exporters Association launched its Business Guide to the Services Directive, a publication which will make it clear to Irish exporters of services the new opportunities that are now open to them. Liam Shanahan said: “The Irish Exporters Association is not resting on its laurels with the publication of this business guide. We will be proactively following up the Guide with a series of briefing sessions around the country on selling services internationally, the role of the Services Directive and how to maximise the opportunities created by the Directive to sell the services of Irish companies in all the EU countries.”
(ENDS)
For further information contact: John Whelan
CEO, Irish Exporters Association
Telephone:087 9271243
Email: JFWHELAN@IRISHEXPORTERS.IE
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