Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Well, the light is
Speaker 1: tier of threats from the US president are casting a
Speaker 1: shadow over the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Speaker 1: European leaders are due to meet now later this week
Speaker 1: to discuss their response, which could include placing limits on
Speaker 1: market access for American companies. Let's discuss now with Michael
Speaker 1: Lowe and the CEO of IDA Ireland, the government agency
Speaker 1: charged with attracting foreign direct investment, who joins US from Davas. Michael,
Speaker 1: good morning. How worried are you about this latest escalation
Speaker 1: of tensions between the US and Europe.
Speaker 2: Good morning, Stephen. Yes, I think the last forty eight
Speaker 2: hours have certainly brought another level of uncertainty for global
Speaker 2: trade and for international companies. Just last week, actually, I
Speaker 2: was in the US on the West coast, and it's
Speaker 2: quite clear from an enterprise perspective, what they look for
Speaker 2: is they need global markets, they need global presence and
Speaker 2: global workforce, and that's what they want to do. And
Speaker 2: of course, when you have maybe some potential changes in
Speaker 2: terms of tariffs, that can be disruptive, and we've seen
Speaker 2: that last year. The first half of last year was
Speaker 2: was quite difficult from an FDI flow perspective, and obviously
Speaker 2: decision making became quite delayed during that period. So so
Speaker 2: hopefully we will see some some dialogue over the coming
Speaker 2: days that will maybe bring more clarity and direction in
Speaker 2: the future.
Speaker 1: In your conversations with those US companies, do you get
Speaker 1: a sense of frustration that they're unable to plan or
Speaker 1: make decisions because of the changing policies.
Speaker 2: Well, I think the dynamics has probably shifted from I
Speaker 2: can out of the US and from even on Thursday
Speaker 2: night to this morning, and so last year obviously know
Speaker 2: that there was delayed in the first half of the
Speaker 2: year in terms of decision making that actually moved. I
Speaker 2: think companies found pats and and again decisions have to
Speaker 2: be made in order to support innovation, in order to
Speaker 2: to to serve markets, and so I think in some
Speaker 2: ways it's almost almost a deja vous back to where
Speaker 2: we were last last April. But I do believe that
Speaker 2: the resilience of the enterprise base will continue to see
Speaker 2: with their path through because we have and I think
Speaker 2: enterprise have seen have seen the means of which you
Speaker 2: need to respond in terms of global investment and global flows,
Speaker 2: and I think that will continue. It's just that it
Speaker 2: brings another level of complication and complexity within their business, and.
Speaker 1: We're waiting to see how exactly Europe will choose to
Speaker 1: respond to this. France wants the EU to consider using
Speaker 1: the anti Coercion Instrument, which could include measures like limiting
Speaker 1: market access for American companies. How damaging could that be
Speaker 1: for Ireland given the large amount of US investment there.
Speaker 2: Well, I actually think it will be damaging for the
Speaker 2: global economy. I think beyond the Ireland, of course, certainly
Speaker 2: it would be an impact in all of our economies
Speaker 2: across the across the continent of Europe, because remember, like
Speaker 2: we have European companies serving global markets, we have US
Speaker 2: companies serving global markets, including the European markets. So it
Speaker 2: would actually have an impact in both directions. And I
Speaker 2: think what we're advocating for, and I think that's what
Speaker 2: most people are advocating for, is is for dialogue. And
Speaker 2: to guess, I suppose into negotiations and discussions in respect
Speaker 2: of of setting aside the tires.
Speaker 1: I think we have an.
Speaker 2: Agreement in place between Europe and the US in our
Speaker 2: mind that should be honored and put into force. And
Speaker 2: if there's other elements need to be discussed on within
Speaker 2: They should be discussed and clarified. But I think we
Speaker 2: need to bring certainty to international trade because it is
Speaker 2: the lifeblood of all of our economies.
Speaker 1: Would you be encouraging the Irish government to vote against
Speaker 1: using this anti coersion tool.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that's the decision for the Irish government.
Speaker 2: But I think from an Ireland government perspective, and we've
Speaker 2: heard the t shot just speaking this over the last
Speaker 2: number of hours as well, is that you know, we
Speaker 2: think it's time for some reflection and dialogue. I would
Speaker 2: certainly support that, but of course there will have to
Speaker 2: be decisions made at junctures and at particular junctures, so
Speaker 2: I think that should be a last resort from from
Speaker 2: from a European perspective, we should look to dialogue and
Speaker 2: resolution because as I mentioned, I think it will be
Speaker 2: it would be challenging both for the US economy and
Speaker 2: indeed for the European economy.
Speaker 1: Michael, you're in Davos to meet with business leaders to
Speaker 1: talk about foreign investment to promote Ireland as a destination.
Speaker 1: How do you have conversations like that when the whole
Speaker 1: environment is so uncertain.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it certainly is a different dynamic Stephen, I
Speaker 2: think that's correct, but maybe I'll go back to the
Speaker 2: to the principles. First of all, is that when you
Speaker 2: have international companies, they are serving international markets, so their
Speaker 2: markets still exist, their need for their product and their
Speaker 2: services still exists. The need for them to innovate and
Speaker 2: bring their their their R and D pipelines to fruition,
Speaker 2: that's still that's still is in play. And indeed companies
Speaker 2: are looking to increase their supply chain, supply chain resilience,
Speaker 2: you know, in terms of decarbonization and sustainability to their
Speaker 2: supply chain. All of those elements still exist and are
Speaker 2: require because companies are future focused, the future focused in
Speaker 2: terms of growth, the future focused in terms of product
Speaker 2: and services, and that's where we will have our conversations. Yes,
Speaker 2: we have to be conscious of the over arched and
Speaker 2: geer political environment, but ultimately companies will look to the
Speaker 2: future and look to actually see how they can continue
Speaker 2: to trade internationally, how they can have the best product
Speaker 2: and services and indeed the best workforce globally to support
Speaker 2: their business needs.
Speaker 1: Are you seeing that companies, though, are having to downplay
Speaker 1: announcements about foreign direct investment decisions because of the fear
Speaker 1: of criticism from the Trump administration. You had a record
Speaker 1: year for attracting foreign direct investment last year. Are companies though,
Speaker 1: trying to keep it quiet about some of the investments
Speaker 1: they're making.
Speaker 2: Well, you're correct. We had a record year last year,
Speaker 2: and I think if you put that in the backdrop
Speaker 2: of the year that was twenty twenty five an outstanding
Speaker 2: performance to actually deliver a record year from an FDI perspective,
Speaker 2: And just to put that in context, we had a
Speaker 2: thirty six percent uplift year and year in twenty twenty
Speaker 2: five across all territories, you know, across all territories across
Speaker 2: the globe. And what really was impactful on that is
Speaker 2: that maybe I'll just speak to the three areas. First
Speaker 2: of all, first time investments into Ireland continue to remain strong,
Speaker 2: so twenty five percent other investments or almost eighty investments
Speaker 2: or first time investments into Ireland. The second area was
Speaker 2: innovation in R and D really strong two point five
Speaker 2: billion supported last year through the IDA in terms of
Speaker 2: R and D investments. And the third area was a
Speaker 2: real focus on transformation upstilling of the workforce. We supported
Speaker 2: almost thirty four thousand people in the Irish workforce to
Speaker 2: be upscaled last year. So we're seeing companies continue to
Speaker 2: be that future focus. And just on announcement. Just last
Speaker 2: last Friday actually we had an announcement with Caalcom actually
Speaker 2: expanding their operations in Ireland and that's on semiconductor design.
Speaker 2: So yes, investments continues, announcements continue, but I think companies
Speaker 2: are also very conscious of the world in which we
Speaker 2: now reside.
Speaker 1: How does the year ahead look? Where I think is
Speaker 1: it going to be a more difficult year.
Speaker 2: I think the year ahead is going to continue to be,
Speaker 2: you know, hyper competitive. I think it's going to continue
Speaker 2: to I think bring challenges as we go forward, and
Speaker 2: I think as it starts, I think we're going to
Speaker 2: continue to see that. And I think what we're seeing
Speaker 2: is that, you know, the pace of change, the pace
Speaker 2: of innovation is continuing and we're going to have to
Speaker 2: continue to adapt and be agile because the world has
Speaker 2: certainly the pace of of both from a geopolitical perspective
Speaker 2: and technology perspective continues.
Speaker 1: Okay, Michael Lowan, CEO of i D A Ireland, thank
Speaker 1: you very much for joining us from Davos this morning,