Five prominent sectors identified for further collaboration
25 February 2014: British Ambassador to Ireland, H.E. Mr Dominick Chilcott, outlined why the “intense programme for collaboration between Britain and Ireland is unparalleled” at a Limerick Chamber Business Breakfast this morning.
Sponsored by SamCo Agricultural Manufacturing Ltd, the ‘The Future of British-Irish Relations’ Business Breakfast, took place in the Greenhills Hotel on Tuesday 25 February and examined the deepening of relations between the UK and Ireland and what the Joint Statement, announced by both the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach in March 2012, means for both Irish and British business during the course of the next ten years.
The Joint Statement called for a joint evaluation to be done of “the depth of economic relations between the UK and Ireland and of the opportunities for closer collaboration in support of growth to our mutual benefit”. Dominick Chilcott presented the findings of the subsequent report that was commissioned by PA Consulting and Cambridge Econometrics. The study highlights areas of potential further co-operation and collaboration between Britain and Ireland which Mr Chilcott described as “the blueprint for the next phase of our economic cooperation”.
Mr Chilcott demonstrated how closely tied the two countries are in macro-economic terms by citing statistics from the study: the flow of goods between Ireland and the UK amounts to €1 billion per week, and the UK is Ireland’s largest export destination – 16% of Ireland’s industrial exports and 19% of its services go to the UK.
He noted, “Because of the very close economic links between Britain and Ireland, when one of us does well, it helps the other and vice versa. So the recent encouraging economic news from Britain should be good for Ireland. The IMF predicts that the UK economy will grow 2.4% this year, faster than any other major European economy.”
“But, according to the study, collaboration between our two countries could go further and faster and produce even greater benefits.”
The report identified potential in a number of sectors and Mr Chilcott highlighted the “five sectors where we are being challenged to work more closely together.” They are Agri-food, Energy, Research, Development & Innovation, Tourism & Travel and Construction.
He acknowledged, “of course, our companies also compete. But our interests are probably best served by a judicial mix of competition and cooperation.”
The Limerick Chamber event precedes the upcoming British-Irish Summit taking place next month which involves both the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach meeting two years on from the March 2012 announcement. The summit will looks at where both countries are now and the plans to take the next steps forward in the areas of further collaboration and co-operation.
One recent result from the cooperation was a combined British and Irish trade mission to Singapore air show for 11 companies from the Republic of Ireland, 16 from Great Britain and 9 from Northern Ireland.
In his conclusion, the British Ambassador said: “we are, at last, making the most of what we have in common – our family connections, our similar business culture and common law systems, our familiarity with one another, our openness to trade and the myriad of air and sea links between us.”
Also attending the event was Paul Caplis from UK Trade & Investment, the British Government agency that helps advise and support Irish companies looking to set up and / or expand in the UK.
Matthew Shine, UK Sales & Operations Manager for Samco and sponsors of the event, shared his insights on how Samco expanded its business in the UK and following the event noted “this event was a great opportunity for SAMCO to meet with Ambassador Chilcott and to instil our mission statement further in the UK”.
Samuel Shine, Director of Samco, said “the UK was our first export market which began our spiralling growth, it continues to expand in line with our global progress.”
ENDS
For further information, please contact Edwina Gore, Communications Consultant, Limerick Chamber on 061 217607 or 087 6295323
About British Ambassador
Dominick Chilcott is a career diplomat who joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 30 years ago. He has served as High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and Maldives, Deputy Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador to Iran and now as Ambassador to Ireland. In addition to those postings, Dominick has served in Ankara, Lisbon and at the UK’s mission to the European Union in Brussels.
Between overseas assignments, Dominick has worked in the FCO in London on European, African and Middle Eastern affairs. He has been a private secretary to two Foreign Secretaries, Sir Malcolm Rifkind and the late Mr Robin Cook. He was director of the Iran Policy Unit in 2003 and director for bilateral relations with European countries from 2003-6.
About Samco Agricultural Manufacturing Ltd
Samco was set up in 1997 by Samuel Shine on the family farm in Adare, Co. Limerick. Sam in 1978 was one of the country’s largest Agricultural Contractors; he became aware that preserving grass silage was becoming a huge issue for Irish Farmers. He began to research the possibility of growing alternative crops mainly forage maize. This in turn resulted in his contracting business digressing into sowing and harvesting maize for local farmers. Sam then developed the SAMCO SYSTEM; the 3 in 1 machine sows the maize seed, sprays the soil with a pre-emergence herbicide and covers the embedded seed with a degradable film. The film is proven to increase soil and air temperature which ensures rapid plant growth in the first six weeks of the plant’s life and also protects the young plant from early frost.
In 2012, 85% of maize in Ireland was grown using the SAMCO SYSTEM, this patented system is now used successfully in over 20 countries. This year 90 % of production was exported to countries such as UK, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Japan, Russia and Canada. Samco now has a staff of 30 full time employees, 3 of which are Sam’s own Sons and they have produced their 500th machine. The business continues to strive, expand and develop the system to improve the overall production of Maize throughout the world. They are now preparing for an increase of 30 % production in 2014.
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