An official review has called for greater nuance in Ireland’s trade policy to recognise the differences between major partners like the US and Britain and developing or exploratory markets.
Published today by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore, the review said feedback from State agencies, departments and embassies suggested a sustained commitment to "high value markets" provided a more immediate return.
Efforts to boost trade in a number of newer markets not previously prioritised by the Government will be stepped up following the review, which examined the strategy in place since 2010.
However, the review said such opportunities were seen to be “more long-term” and less immediately lucrative in terms of jobs and growth.
“Some markets are clearly of greater value and importance than others. Not all markets are priorities for all State agencies, nor are all sectors relevant in each market,” the review said.
“There is a need for an evolution of the concept of 27 priority markets towards a new market approach which aims to provide a more strategic, up-to-date and nuanced direction for Ireland’s international trade, tourism, investment and education promotion efforts.”
Although the review called for a “disaggregation” of policy between major and other trading partners, Mr Gilmore said it was not the case that certain markets would no longer be prioritised. “In fact it’s the reverse,” he told reporters.
“If you take say our long-established high-value markets like the US, the UK, many of the EU countries, they’re obviously at a different scale than some of the new markets,” he said.
"Secondly, we not have a range of other well-established markets where we now have a very significant presence, and China is probably a very good example of that. But we're also seeing the emergence of new markets. Some of those are emerging through trade deals that are negotiated through the EU."
The Government now aims to examine trade opportunities in Turkey, Nigeria, Mexico, Vietnam and Chile. It will also concentrate on Indonesia and Thailand, where new embassies open this year.
These countries add to the Government's original list of 27 priority locations, including the US, Britain, Germany, France, China, Japan, other large European countries and markets such as Canada, Australia, Singapore, Russia, India and Brazil.
The review set a target to increase to €900 million in 2015 from €682 million in 2010 the contribution from the international education, the first such target for the sector.
The review said there should be no change in the existing policy target to create more than 150,000 exporting jobs between 2010 and 2015.
However, the tourism target was decreased to 7.2 million visitor numbers from 8 million in the original plan.
“Despite a particularly strong performance by the tourism sector in 2013, the targets attributed to this area are not likely to be met because of a significant drop in visitor numbers in the first two years of the strategy, particularly from the UK,” the review said.
