Post-Covid US trade mission planned for April 2022
Post-Covid US trade mission planned for April 2022
By Adam Maguire Business Journalist, RTE View Original Article on RTE Business group Ireland Gateway to Europe has announced plans for a post-Covid trade mission to the US next year. The mission is scheduled to take place in April 2022, focused mainly on Boston and Chicago. It will seek to encourage US firms to invest in Ireland, while also helping Irish companies that are looking to get a foothold in the American market. As travel options are currently limited, IGTE is also planning two further virtual events for later this year. However Adie McGennis, founder of IGTE and CEO of Sigmar Recruitment, said those online functions did not have the same draw as an in-person trade mission. "Obviously the Irish-US relationship has been really strong over the years so I think meeting in person certainly excites a number of our members over here, and importantly a lot of the people we'll be meeting over there too," he said. IGTE was established in 2012 and has hosted a number of trade missions already - mainly to US cities, but also some to London. Mr McGennis said that, over the years, they had developed particularly strong links in Chicago and Boston, which is why the mission will focus on those cities. "Particularly the relationships with Notre Dame and Boston College has been really strong, the access they give to politicians, to businesspeople, to the Irish community over there, has been immense," he said. "Chicago and Boston will form the core of it, though we may tag on one more city." Certain US cities are synonymous with specific sectors - for example San Francisco’s connection to tech and New York’s link to finance - however Mr McGennis said there was no particular type of company they were looking to connect with for the Boston/Chicago trip. He said there were some areas where the cities are having particular success, but that did not mean firms from other industries were not welcome. "We're pretty open," he said. "The east coast, particularly around the Boston area, is synonymous with medical devices and pharmaceuticals… but also tech around the Boston area and the east coast generally, has been huge for Ireland for the last couple of years. "Chicago has got quite a mix… so we’re pretty agnostic as to the nature of the business." Recently the Biden Administration has pushed forward with plans for a 21% corporation tax on US multinationals' foreign earnings - which some argue would undermine the attractiveness of Ireland’s 12.5% rate. Mr McGennis said it was not clear what impact that would have on companies’ interest in Ireland, but he was confident that there were a number of factors that made the country attractive to US firms. "The simple answer is that we don’t quite know how the 21% is going to pan out," he said. "If it does prove to be a challenge, and there have been challenges in the past, all the more reason to go over. "Our strong argument for years is that US companies have set up deep roots in Ireland and it definitely was not all about tax; the talent, the quality of life, the EU access right now post-Brexit - have become a lot more important issues." He also said that, while the Biden plan could be a challenge for Ireland, the new administration there was generally felt to be a positive for the country. "A lot of Joe Biden’s administration we hope to be participants in some of our events, because they’re certainly embracing the whole Irish-US relationship on various different fronts," he said.
