Louth targets 300 multinational jobs per year in ambitious foreign direct investment plan
8 September 2015
The Minister for Business & Employment, Ged Nash TD, has launched Phase II of the Louth Economic Forum Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Strategy in Drogheda. The strategy seeks to drive economic development and job creation from 2015 to 2020.
It contains ambitious plans to add 300 jobs in multinational companies in the county per year – building on the success of the first FDI Strategy for Louth.
The first strategy contained a target of creating 3,000 new jobs in IDA supported companies over ten years. In the first five years of the Action Plan up to 2014, a total of 2,074 new jobs were created – meaning two-thirds of the ten year target of 3,000 jobs has already been achieved.
Speaking at the launch, Minister Nash said:
“Growth in the Bio-Pharmaceutical, Global Business Services and High-Value Manufacturing sectors will be actively targeted during the lifetime of this strategy. Louth has the accessibility and infrastructure needed to support companies in these sectors and the key stakeholders in the Forum will work harder than ever to attract these companies.
“As economic recovery starts to take hold, it is impressive to see the Louth Economic Forum set new targets for future development and growth. By creating the right conditions for job creation, the target of 300 additional jobs per year can be achieved and Louth can continue to set drive the economic development agenda,” Minister Nash concluded.”
In 2009 Louth County Council brought together key stakeholders in Enterprise and Job creation in a bold initiative to deal with the recession.
Under the chairmanship of former IDA Chief Executive Padraic White, the Louth Economic Forum quickly became a driving force. The Forum developed an FDI Strategy, worked collaboratively and exceeded their annual targets for the creation of employment in Louth.
Padraic White said: “It seems obvious today that bringing the stakeholders together was the way forward but at the time this was not common practice. Collectively we looked at the conditions in Louth to see what advantages we could offer companies seeking to locate here and what obstacles we could eliminate. I wish to recognise the particularly valuable contributions of IDA Ireland and Louth County Council to the FDI achievements in the county.”
The Forum is a collaborative effort, led by Louth County Council with IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, SEAI, the education sector, Teagasc, Fáilte Ireland, Dept. of Social Protection, the business community. The Forum acts as an advisory body to Louth County Council and the new FDI plan has been reviewed and approved by the elected members.
Minister Nash added: “The model that had been developed in Louth broke new ground. It introduced a process of collaboration and co-operation that had not been seen before. I am proud that this was developed in Louth and delighted to see it being replicated in many other counties.”
A series of 10 actions, complete with timelines, were unveiled. The Louth Economic Forum will continue to create optimal conditions for existing and new companies to create employment in Louth.
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