With the focus on technology and life sciences and a growth-oriented industrial ecosystem, Ireland could be a gateway for Indian business to the European market, according to Feilim McLaughlin, Ambassador of Ireland to India.
During a visit to The Hindu office here on Monday, Mr. McLaughlin, who is leading an official delegation to Kerala, said his mission was to raise awareness of Ireland as a good place for Indian business to invest.
“In many ways, we have quite a lot in common; not the least in terms of the focus on high technology and the proactive way the government here has tried to promote those technologies through industries. It is very similar to the approach the Irish government has taken.”
Mr. McLaughlin said the familiarity with English language and the industrial ecosystem were obvious reasons for promoting better ties between the two countries. “The focus on technology and life sciences is common to Ireland and India. The cluster-based industrial growth model is also similar to that in India.”
Explaining the model, he said, “Clusters have developed in Ireland in particular sectors. The best example is in medical devices. The clusters are based around universities or institutes of technology.”
Investment destination
Mr. McLaughlin said, “In the next stage, we are trying to move up the value chain. The government's intention is to make Ireland the best small country in the world to do business in.”
On bilateral links with India, he said, “We want to see improvement in government-to-government links in terms of frequency and intensity of the relationship that the two countries have. It is not just government, not just business, academia or sports. There is a whole range of areas in which we see the relationship developing.”
Areas of collaboration
The Irish delegation is participating in an event organised by the Group of Technology Companies (GTech) here on Monday to identify areas of collaboration between companies in Ireland and Kerala.
“We are looking at a clutch of Kerala-based tech companies. Because Ireland is very strong in technology, we are trying to see how we can link that together,” said Minakshi Batra, Director India, Investment and Development Agency (IDA), Ireland, a member of the delegation.
Patrick O'Riordan, commercial counsellor, Embassy of Ireland, New Delhi, who is also part of the delegation, said the medical devices and precision engineering industries could open up opportunities for collaboration. “There are huge capabilities in Ireland in these areas. Indian companies could use Irish expertise to innovate.”
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