More know-how than kowtow

Analysis: Knowledge is the bait when attracting investors and its seems to be paying off, writes Una McCaffrey

It is difficult for the IDA to express too much public pride at progress made in a year when 3,000 more jobs were lost than created by the firms it supports.

Mr Sean Dorgan, the agency's chief executive was nonetheless in upbeat mood yesterday as he reeled off the list of high-profile multinationals that have been lured to the Republic this year by IDA executives across the world.

While expressing the requisite disappointment at the continued relocation of lower-skilled jobs, Mr Dorgan was unequivocal in describing 2003 as a success, both for the IDA and the wider economy.

His satisfaction is well-justified, with 2003 truly marking the Republic's transition to what the IDA has for a number of years now been flagging as "a knowledge economy".

Projects such as Google and eBay, HVB Bank and Pfizer, are finally coming to the Republic because of factors other than cost or low taxes - they are arriving because of a much bigger picture.

This includes good regulation, a solid educational infrastructure and a readiness among policymakers to listen to the needs of their multinational constituents.

Evidence of this latter element came most recently in Budget 2004, which contained three different measures aimed at expanding the Republic's share of foreign direct investment - one on intellectual property, another on research and a third on the tax treatment of holding companies.

The IDA's job, of course, is to fill out this bare economic and legislative framework for potential investors. Its latest effort in this regard is most visible in the brand, "Ireland, knowledge is in our nature", which is the IDA's way of promoting the added-value that multinationals can draw from an Irish workforce.

The slogan is accompanied by a hard-backed book designed to outline the "knowledge-based" achievements of Irish-based companies and individuals. The publication makes no mention of costs, preferring instead to focus on "the innate creative imagination of Irish people".

It is a sophisticated marketing tool and one that offers the perfect reflection of the knowledge economy that now looks to have put down firm roots.