Events
The 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations: Hope of expanding tourism
and Japanese investments
—– Japan and Ireland celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year. How would you observe the development of our bilateral ties?
I think that Ireland and Japan have been fortunate to know each other during the best period of our histories. During those 60 years, Ireland and Japan have worked hard to secure peace, including through our support for the United Nations and engagement in UN peacekeeping missions. Our economies have grown and our populations have become better off. The EU has been a significant positive force for us. And, though Ireland and Japan are far apart geographically, we trade about €10 billion worth of goods and services with each other every year. Japan is now Ireland’s 8th largest export market globally. It is a mutually beneficial relationship based on shared values and interests. We would like to see a speedy conclusion to the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement so that we can do more business with Japan. From Ireland’s point of view beef and dairy products are important. Just as pasta is recognized as being from Italy, we hope good quality Irish food products will be associated with Ireland. We would like to see more Japanese agricultural products in Europe as well, therefore it should be mutually beneficial.
—– As Ambassador to Japan, what is your priority agenda for further strengthening the relations?
Our two Prime Ministers, Mr. Abe and Mr. Kenny, agreed a Declaration titled “Partnership for Innovation and Growth” which set out a wide-ranging agenda for Ireland and Japan to pursue. The Declaration covered such areas as greater collaboration in science and technology, promoting investments in each other’s countries, greater people to people exchanges and more cultural exchange. This year, as part of the celebrations, Foreign Minister Kishida and Ireland’s former Foreign Minister Flanagan met and agreed that work on a new Declaration should begin. I look forward to the new Declaration being even more ambitious than the last. One area I would like to see grow is tourism. Once Japanese people visit Ireland they tend to love it. But too few people travel from Japan to visit our safe, English speaking and beautiful country.
—– Ireland is the first country that escaped from the EU debt crisis in 2013. How did you make such a success of economic recovery?
Ireland’s economic crisis was primarily brought on by our privately owned banks which had to be bailed out with public money. When the government introduced austerity measures, there was very little opposition to those measures. People realized that we had to pull together and get out of the crisis. A very great deal of credit must go to the Irish people who worked so hard and sacrificed so much to ensure that Ireland was in a position to make a speedy recovery. The European Central Bank and the IMF also made loans available to us at a critical time. We were also fortunate that our political and administrative institutions were robust. Last year, we boasted the highest growth rate in Europe with GDP at 5.2% and growth this year is forecast to be over 4%. Unemployment is down from a high of over 15% to just above 6% now. The general government deficit have fallen to 0.5% of GDP from a peak of 32% in 2010. And in 2016 Ireland maintained its position as the best country in the Eurozone for doing business in the Forbes magazine rankings in 2016, coming an overall 4th in the world.
—– What opportunities can Japanese companies expect for investing in Ireland?
Ireland host about 80 Japanese companies. They all report a very favorable business climate and are all doing very well. A significant number of Japanese companies are expanding their operations and some Japanese companies are looking to open operations in Ireland following Brexit. This makes sense as Ireland will be the only English speaking country in the Eurozone and the EU followingBrexit. We have the same legal system as the UK, a well educated young population, a flexible labour force and a highly competitive corporate tax at 12.5%.
—– While the shape of Brexit is unclear, there will be concern on border issues between Ireland and Northern Ireland. How will this impact political and economic situation in Ireland?
Let me say first that we very much regret that the UK will leave the EU. We think it is bad for the EU, bad for the UK, bad for Japan and particularly bad for Ireland which is the only EU member state that shares a border with the UK. We have a nearly 500 km borer with around 300 crossing points and tens of thousands of people cross every day for education,health services and vacation as well as commerce. As you say the shape of Brexit is unclear and until we know what the UK wants and the negotiations conclude it is impossible to predict what the outcome will be. But the uncertainty is bad for politics or business. Already we have seen a dramatic impact on the agricultural sector. Many farmers that rely entirely on the UK market have been forced to go out of business with the profit margin wiped out under the weak British pound. We have a highly successful peace process under the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The border between Ireland and Northern Ireland is essentially invisible and we don’t want to go backwards to a hard border. I am glad to say that our 26 EU partners, on whose side we will be negotiating, have absorbed that issue into their negotiating mandate, and they as well as the UK have indicated that they share our position. So, we will be looking for a political solution to this.