Ibec’s international business division, Ibec Global, aims to bring key international stakeholders together to debate and shape the trends and priorities critical to creating a successful, shared global economy and society.
“We are Europe’s standout anglophone business network globally and expert on the shifting relationships between the EU and the UK,” explains executive director Jackie King. “We are a promoter of the EU single market and are specifically interested in its ever-evolving relationship with the rest of the world, in particular its major trading partners including North America and the UK. “
The division’s work focuses on identifying and harnessing the international business trends and opportunities that fuel growth for businesses, she adds. “That includes advocating for enlightened policies and models in the context of major societal, policy, geopolitical and business trends as well as influencing the conditions and providing the support for businesses to thrive globally.”
Providing services to business is also part of its role. “We want to help businesses navigate the EU either as a new market or as part of supply chains and value chains,” she says. “Small businesses don’t have the resources for that. We are giving them what they need in terms of training as well as insights and information on what’s coming down the track to help them plan for the future. Business leaders plan for what’s happening in the moment, but they have to look at what the next two or three years are going to look like as well.”
Macro trends
Macro trends such as regulatory divergence, the Northern Ireland protocol, the broad ESG agenda, global taxation, cybersecurity and geopolitical developments represent another area of focus. As is the Ibec Stronger Europe, Stronger Ireland campaign, which sets out the views of Irish business on how the EU can deliver ambitious policies to the benefit of business, workers and citizens.
“We want to get businesses, governments, civic society organisations and academics around the table to work out what these trends mean and how they will influence policy and business models and performance decisions in business. If we get people around the table early to address these issues, they can move forward together with a lot less disruption.”
While it is still early days for the division, Ibec Global has already held a number of highly successful events including a cybersecurity summit last November. The hybrid event hosted from Brussels brought together some 20 international leaders, experts and academics in cybersecurity from business, government, law enforcement and leading research centres and universities from both sides of the Atlantic.
“We plan to hold a second cybersecurity summit this November,” says King
Gender equity is also high on the agenda. “This is an issue we need to get right. We have organised a programme around that and have already held Global Leadership in Action events on achieving an equal future by getting serious about gender equity and gender-smart investing. We can all agree there is an issue but how are we going to get together and agree on the measures that need to be put in place to address it. That’s why we are bringing governments and business and other stakeholders together in these events.”
Ibec is Ireland’s representative on the Business at OECD organisation. “We bring the views of business to OECD policymaking process. We are heavily involved in global tax reform, BEPS, and trade policy. Pat Ivory, our head of international affairs, is chair of the trade committee. We are also involved in other issues like digitalisation, sustainability and corporate governance.”
The US is a key area of focus for the year ahead. “We have a St Patrick’s Day programme of events planned for Washington DC and New York. That’s a great opportunity to get our message across. We also have meetings and events planned for key sectors like medtech during the year.”
And then there is Brexit. “We are very much engaged on all things Brexit. Our role is to provide our expertise on deep, deep relationship with the UK. Northern Ireland’s unique position as part of the UK and of the all-island economy is also very important. We will be reaching out this year to bring together Northern Ireland business and representative groups to look at how we can work together to make sure they are supported at EU level.”
May will see Ibec Global partnering with Callaway Climate Insights to host the Dublin Climate Summit which will bring together bankers, investors and businesses invested in the ESG space to learn about trends, technology and be informed by global thought leadership.
That all makes for a busy year ahead. “We have lots to do and have so much work on the go. There is so much opportunity for Ireland. Our economy has remained as strong as it is due to openness to trade and being part of the global economy. We want to play our role in strengthening it still further.”
