By Denise Marray/Gulf Times Correspondent/London


Ireland views Qatar as a ‘priority trading partner’ into the next decade. This view was expressed by Mark O’Mahoney, director of Policy and Communications, Chambers Ireland (Ireland’s largest business network) in an interview with Gulf Times this week.
Qatar already enjoys strong links with Ireland. It has high profile investments in the country’s renowned thoroughbred racing industry. Ireland is the biggest supplier of thoroughbred foals in Europe, producing 40% of EU output.
Sheikh Fahad al-Thani and Mubarak al-Naemi, chairman of the Qatar Owners’ and Breeders’ Association, have invested in Irish stud farms. Qatar Racing is also a significant investor in recent years.    
Qatar also has interests in software and digital services through companies such as iConnect.
iConnect, part of the Al Mana Group, recently doubled its Irish workforce and launched a European expansion from Dublin following investment from Qatar. Ireland is home to nine of the world’s 10 largest ICT companies and continues to flourish, making the sector attractive to many foreign investors.
O’Mahoney pointed to Ireland’s highly educated and skilled workforce, corporate tax structures, strong investment protection and easy access to Europe’s 500mn consumers as being key factors in attracting investment.
“We currently rank first in the world for inward investment and in the top 10 of global innovation index and the easiest place in Europe to do business. Importantly, Ireland has emerged from a period of recession with a lower cost base and improved fundamentals. There is still value to be found by investors, with better than average returns being posted across a number of industry sectors.
“Areas where we would see strong investment potential would be in property, particularly Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and in large scale property development. Ireland has an ambitious construction programme for the next few years, and is actively seeking investors,” he said.
Tourism also offers significant potential. “The booming tourist industry has seen a lot of external interest in hotels and destination resorts,” he noted. There are also major investment opportunities in the pharmaceutical, technology and software sectors.
Ireland is famous for its high quality food products and the food sector is expected to see strong growth. “This will span dairy, meat, premium and processed foods,” explained O’Mahoney.
“Ireland has massive investment potential as a supplier of high quality food products to the Gulf States, especially beef, dairy products and sheep meat since the import ban on these products was lifted by the GCC in 2013.
“By 2020, Irish food exports to Gulf States are set to double to €500m and the Middle East is emerging as an increasingly important market dominated by dairy products, prepared foods and beverages,” he said.
There are excellent transport links between Ireland and the Gulf region. Emirates and Etihad airlines both operate direct daily flights from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Dublin. Qatar Airways connects with Dublin via its partner airlines.
Dublin Airport is currently the sixth largest transatlantic hub in Europe offering excellent connectivity between the US and Europe. Last year alone, traffic numbers grew by 14% to a record high with further increases expected.
The importance that Ireland attaches to its trading relations with Qatar was highlighted by the high profile trade missions undertaken by Enterprise Ireland last year. One led by Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny, and one led by Minister for Trade and Development Joe Costello. These showcased Ireland’s strengths in higher education, telecommunications, life sciences, construction and engineering, and water/waste water.