O'Keefe Visits U.S. On Trade Mission

Minister O'Keeffe visited a number of multinational companies in Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana in the mid-western US region.

He was accompanied by the IDA Ireland chief executive, Barry O'Leary.

Speaking before leaving for the US, Minister O'Keeffe described the trip as "an important platform to strengthen relationships between the Irish Government and major existing and potential investors in an effort to encourage new investment and job opportunities."

Over 520 US companies employ more than 100,000 people in operations in Ireland.

"Last year, almost half of IDA-supported companies came from the US and 70% of total IDA-supported jobs were directly from US firms.

"This week's visit to North America is my first opportunity to meet senior executives in a range of top US multinationals in an effort to encourage investment opportunities and lay firm foundations to win new foreign direct investment for Ireland," he said.

IDA Ireland's new strategy, Horizon 2020, targets foreign direct investment in a range of key sectors.

Consistent with that strategy, Minister O'Keeffe's program included both existing and potential new investors in the areas of life science, international business services, information communications technology, and financial services.

"A number of companies are already well-established in Ireland and I will be making a strong case to them for further investment, particularly in areas that advance our focus on innovation and the 'smart' economy," he concluded.