An Taoiseach & Minister Donohoe travel to World Economic Forum in Davos

24th January, 2018

 
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar and the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe are promoting Ireland’s interests to the global community in Davos today at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum.

This is an important opportunity for the Taoiseach and Minister Donohoe to present Ireland’s strengths to potential investors, and to meet like-minded Heads of Government, political & business leaders and campaigners. It’s an opportunity to show Ireland’s determination to secure a favourable outcome in the Brexit negotiations, and highlight Ireland’s desire to play a leading role in the ongoing debate on the Future of Europe.

The Taoiseach’s Programme includes meetings with leaders of multi-national high-tech, pharmaceutical and financial services firms with significant operations, and which are major employers in Ireland. Both the Taoiseach and Minister Donohoe will participate in an event organised by IDA Ireland for senior executives of major international companies.

The Taoiseach will also participate in events focused on international developments, including peace and security, poverty and inequality, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Future of Europe. On Thursday the Taoiseach will participate in a live panel debate, during which he will outline Ireland’s ambition to play a leading role in shaping the Future of Europe as a country that is at its heart.

The theme of this year’s meeting is ‘Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World’. The WEF Annual Meeting is attended by key political and business leaders, heads of international organisations from across the world, and international media.

As part of his programme, Minister Donohoe will also attend a number of Forum events and will participate in a high-level panel on international tax issues. In addition, he will have a number of political and business-related meetings with other Forum participants, including the EU’s chief negotiator on Brexit, Michel Barnier.

Ahead of his first visit to the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, the Taoiseach said: “This is an excellent opportunity to meet some of the world’s leading decision-makers, and highlight Ireland as a highly attractive location for trade and investment. I will emphasise our strong support for the United Nations, our continuing commitment to the EU, and the importance of building a close and constructive future relationship between the EU and the UK. I will speak about Ireland’s place as an island at the centre of the world, at the heart of the European home which we helped to build, and I will particularly emphasise our desire to lead the Future of Europe debate.”

Speaking about his visit, the Minister said: “I look forward to using the unique opportunity that the World Economic Forum presents to discuss Ireland’s sustained economic recovery and to promote our economic interests with a range of key international actors. In particular, I will be underlining that, following several years of strong growth, our recovery has now entered a mature phase of development, with growth more broadly based across the economy. The message I will be bringing to Davos is that it is the Government’s firm intention to continue to build on this to ensure that Ireland remains an excellent place in which to invest.”
ENDS