O’Keeffe has one of the toughest jobs in the country. A straight talking and approachable individual, he is tasked with regenerating Ireland’s economy after the worst global financial downturn in 80 years. Seven months into the job he displays the energy of a man on a mission. Many of the businesses in the current Irish trade delegation hail from the steadily developing “smart economy” that O’Keeffe says is the new direction that Ireland must take to increase its exports and compete in the world markets.

“A smart economy is about people thinking and working smarter, generating new ideas and getting more for less right across the economy,” he said.

In an interview with Arab News in the run-up to the current visit, O’Keeffe said the relationship with Saudi Arabia was on a very firm footing. Enterprise Ireland, the government organization responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets, has already established an office in Riyadh.

“It is selling Ireland as a country that has outstanding expertise and skills and particularly as a source of outstanding education, a real growth area,” said O’Keeffe. Regarding education, O’Keeffe said that the skills and the capacity of the education system were such that “we’re highly regarded internationally.”

Ireland’s potential as both target of inward investment and generator of innovative high quality and value exports rests on several factors.

“In terms of investment into Ireland, we have a low corporation tax of 12.5 percent. Our labor skills are fourth in world ranking and sixth in flexibility and adaptiveness, and in terms of productivity, about seventh,” he said. 

O’Keeffe said that Ireland weathered the global economic downturn better than other economies in the region.

“During this recession, our exports fell by about four percent compared with Germany and the UK — it was more like 15 or 20 percent. Clearly, what we produce here is in great demand,” he said. 

And demand for Irish exports is much greater than before.

“In this year alone, Enterprise Ireland will claw back 17 percent of lost exports and we’ll grow exports by 29 percent with a trade balance of about four billion euros.” As it bounces back from the decline, Ireland is targeting countries of high opportunity and, “we see Saudi Arabia as one of the key areas for export,” said O’Keeffe.

He said that apart from high quality education, Ireland has a long and honorable history of involvement in the construction industry.

Other areas that O’Keeffe thought Ireland could offer to the Kingdom apart from education and the hi-tech and software industries, included products from the important farming and medical sectors. Ireland also has thriving medical equipment and pharmaceutical industries. “I think Saudi Arabia would be a receptive market for these,” he said. “The message we want to send to Saudi authorities is that our government is pro business and is hyper-active in promoting Ireland, its industry and exports.”

He was very keen to stress that — with regard to higher education — those who deliver education and training in Ireland, “are accredited and registered and they stand up to scrutiny. Any student coming from Saudi Arabia will be absolutely assured that they are coming into an entity that is both well regulated and structured.”

Asked where Saudi Arabia and Ireland might share cultural characteristics, O’Keeffe said that affability was a characteristic of the Irish.

“We get on with people and students coming here know that they are coming to an environment where family is strong and somewhere they can feel secure as a family,” he said.

He welcomed the fact that family members could travel and stay with students while they were in the country.

Ireland is committed to the knowledge economy and is exporting knowledge, products and services developed as a result of its education system.

The feeling from O’Keeffe is that quality of products and innovations will compete well against less expensive and less sophisticated products.

A major part of the export challenge — and of this trade mission in particular — is to raise the awareness of potential buyers to the fact that excellence does not cost; it pays.