Irish President Higgins woos Chinese investment with visit
The Irish President Michael D. Higgins is in China on a ten day visit — his first state visit to the country. Accompanying him is a delegation of leading Irish state companies, including IDA Ireland — the country’s foreign investment agency. They are set to hold meetings with leading personnel from Chinese companies across different sectors, including Alibaba founder Jack Ma.
Chinese investment in Ireland has grown in recent years, particularly in the aircraft-leasing business, which Ireland dominates globally.
Ireland has battled tough economic times in recent years, and the country’s ability to attract foreign direct investment has intensified. According to the IDA, 2013 was a record year for investment, and 78 companies invested for the first time. The proportion of investment from China is still small, but the IDA is hopeful this state visit will change that.
“Ireland has been very successful in attracting investment from North America and from Europe, and we want to emulate that now and attract more investment from China. We have had some success; we have had some of the larger names investing in Ireland. We’ve had companies like Huawei ,ICBC, Tencent, China Development Bank who have invested in Ireland, and we’re delighted with that. And we’re open for more business from China,” said Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland.
One sector that has caught Chinese attention is aircraft leasing — an industry in which Ireland is the world leader.More than 50 percent of the world’s aircraft are managed in Ireland, and 9 out of 10 of the leading global leasers have a presence.
Three of China’s largest leasing companies have set in Ireland, including ICBC international leasing, which set up its European headquarters in Dublin.
“According to our research, in the next ten years the whole world will need 35,000 commercial aircraft, valued at US$4.8 trillion. So I believe there is huge potential in Ireland. Four years ago, we had nothing here. Now our business here is nearly US$10 billion. And in China, every year the fleet in the whole Chinese market increases about 200 to 300 aircraft, so I would say in the next 20 years, I would say, the Chinese market will need additional 6000 aircraft,” said Alex Huo, deputy general manager of ICBC International Leasing Company.
ICBC is just one of less than 20 Chinese companies in Ireland, but Huo says Ireland offers many advantages to Chinese companies looking at access to Europe, such as a low corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent and a double tax treaty, signed with more than 70 countries.
There are more than 1,000 multinationals set up in Ireland, and half of them are from the United States, but the hope is that following the state visit to China, Ireland will become an attractive destination for more Chinese investment.
