“I believe that this is the first time that an economic delegation form Luxembourg has travelled to Ireland,” said Prime Minister Xavier Bettel ahead of the economic forum in Dublin scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s about time”, he added before referring to the potential development of economic relations between Luxembourg and Ireland. Indeed, competition between the two financial centres has long hampered trade relations between the two countries. “We came here as facilitators”, the PM told our colleagues from RTL Infos after landing in Dublin on Monday evening.
And it appears that he and the Minister of Finance played their role to perfection as Dara Calleary, the Irish Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, returned to the subject in his opening speech. “Your visit has led us to rethink economic relations with Luxembourg. There is still a great deal of potential to be exploited between our two countries, and that is what we intend to do”, Calleary told the delegations present.
At present, Ireland is not a major economic partner for the Grand Duchy. According to PM Bettel, the island is Luxembourg’s 27th partner in terms of exports and 15th in terms of imports. “There is considerable room for improvement”, admitted the politician from the Democratic Party (DP).
And that is the whole point of the economic forum organised in Dublin on Tuesday. Forty representatives of Luxembourgish companies made the trip in the hope of forging commercial links with players on the Irish market.
“What we noticed is that the Irish are keen to establish new contacts, especially in this post-Brexit context”, explained Cindy Tereba, the director of international affairs at the Chamber of Commerce. There are also opportunities to be seized in the maritime sector, she further noted.
“Shipping routes have been freed up through Brexit. Where previously we would have resorted to continental transit, there are now new flows that can be exploited”, explained Tereba. And she sees this as an opportunity for some Luxembourgish companies to forge new partnerships.
In this context, Tereba emphasised the importance of a Luxembourg presence in Ireland. The opening of the new embassy in Dublin this Monday will play a major role in her view as it will enable “on-the-ground monitoring” of commercial relations between Luxembourg and Irish players who have only just begun making contact.
Dublin: Bettel ‘happy’ with election result on Ireland visit
