Adapt Intelligently: A Strategy for Sustainable Growth and Innovation
Michael Lohan
CEO, IDA Ireland
As 2025 unfolds, the relationship binding Ireland and the United States remains of the utmost cultural, political, and economic importance. With last year marking 100 years of diplomacy between our two countries, the reciprocal nature of this historic and enduring relationship provides a solid foundation that supports robust economic ties enjoyed by both our nations.
Mutual benefits and steady expansion define this bilateral partnership that delivers economic progress on both sides of the Atlantic, often recognised as a catalyst for Ireland’s FDI success. Today there are 760 US firms across 970 operations in Ireland employing over 210,000 people.
Conversely, Ireland is a major player in the US market ranking as the 6th largest foreign investor in the American marketplace with over 110,000 people employed by Enterprise Ireland client companies that have expanded their operations throughout the US to deliver economic impact across all 50 states.
This two-way contribution to our economies drives industry across many sectors and sub sectors and, by strengthening the mutual trust and confidence between the two, helps cement the relationship between our two nations while simultaneously providing a platform for continued growth and partnership.
Future of FDI in Ireland
As IDA Ireland embarks on our new five-year strategy Adapt Intelligently: A Strategy for Sustainable Growth and Innovation, this crucial partnership between our two great nations becomes more important than ever. In business Ireland has built a reputation for nurturing relationships with global companies and IDA Ireland has long recognised the merit of adopting such a partnership approach.
Future economic success hinges on deepening partnerships with existing clients and strengthening relationships with those new to our shores, capturing new growth opportunities and maintaining our competitive edge through ongoing collaboration and innovation.
Ireland’s FDI landscape is healthy. Latest IDA Ireland figures show steady employment across the IDA Ireland client base of more than 1,800 companies employing over 300,000 for the third consecutive year.
Our focus over the next five years will be on consolidating and strengthening investment opportunities from our existing and new clients across our core sectors of International Financial Services, Life Sciences, Technology, Engineering and the Green Economy. We have identified four strategic growth drivers for FDI in Ireland that will create a range of intersecting and connected opportunities across these core sectors of focus. These drivers are Digitalisation and AI, Semiconductors, Sustainability, and Health.
We remain committed to driving viable change by partnering with clients to enhance their digital maturity and sustainability, aiming to increase productivity, reduce carbon emissions, and attract green investment into Ireland.
Why Ireland?
Ireland’s value proposition is based on three overarching elements – People and Place, Ecosystem and Environment, and Stability and Support.
People and Place speaks to the availability of talent in Ireland, our open, partnership approach, and to the quality of life US companies and their staff can expect to experience when they locate here. Moreover, following their initial investment into Ireland, many companies realise the range of opportunities on offer and choose to invest further in their Irish operations, boosted by our strong supply chain, world-class indigenous enterprises, along with our entrepreneurial spirit and rich innovative R&D ecosystem.
Ecosystem and Environment encapsulates our collaborative approach to research and innovation where industry meets education. Last year IDA Ireland reported record levels of R&D investment by clients, and we remain committed to scaling such innovation through enhanced supports for research and development activities, while also leveraging our position as a world-class location for advanced manufacturing and global services. Environment also highlights our connectivity to the European marketplace of over 500m people with a mobile labour force of 300m. With one of the largest clean energy sources in Europe and a unwavering commitment to sustainability, Ireland is an attractive location for US enterprises seeking to decarbonise their operational activities.
Stability and Support not only points to the business incentives on offer in Ireland, it also emphasises the appeal of a politically stable, pro enterprise environment for US companies considering growing their international markets here. With a renewed focus on competitiveness from Europe, Ireland remains a key location for foreign direct investment. We will continue to advocate for ambitious enterprise policies and will collaborate with stakeholders to create the right competitive, digital, and green economic conditions, with a focus on innovation and talent, ensuring Ireland remains a top investment destination into the future.
Conclusion
With IDA Ireland’s presence in the US spanning more than four decades, we continue to work with our new and established US clients to support and deliver on their investment opportunities. Through our network of 9 office locations in North America, our team’s strong foothold helps to establish new connections and cultivate relationships with senior executives at leading American companies, attracting investment opportunities from all over the US into every corner of Ireland.
Expansion through FDI is set to continue to deliver benefits to globally focused companies. By establishing international locations, companies gain valuable access to new markets and access to talent, enabling them to drive revenue growth and diversification. They can mitigate risk associated with domestic fluctuations and can boost competitiveness at a greater scale. Furthermore, such international presence can be critical in building robust supply chain resilience and enhance corporate brand recognition in an increasingly interconnected world.
The importance of our relationship with US business is, and will continue to be, of critical strategic importance as the global marketplace for foreign direct investment becomes more competitive.
In tandem, we are experiencing unprecedented levels of geo-political change in an evolving, more globalised world characterised by emerging technologies, changes in industrial policy, and an unprecedented operating pace.
Notwithstanding these headwinds, I am confident the enduring partnership between our two nations will flourish as we look to each other for new opportunities to advance our economies into the future and work together to deliver global growth and expansion opportunities for both Irish and American based companies.