West sees huge hike in Foreign Direct Investment

There has been an almost 40% jump in the level of Foreign Direct Investment in the West over the past five years – with over 27,000 people now employed by 115 IDA client companies across the region.

This comes at the end of the five-year long ‘Winning Foreign Direct Investment 2015 – 2019 Strategy’ in which the IDA set out to increase investment in the regions by 30% to 40%.

Overall, there were just under 55,000 jobs created in the regions under the strategy, with a 38% increase in investment across the West – made up of new investments, re-investment by existing companies and Research and Development investment.

IDA Ireland’s Acting Regional Business Development Manager for the West Region, Ricky Conneely, said this part of the country was particularly attractive for companies in a number of sectors.

“54,868 jobs were created outside of Dublin over the past five years leading to 33,118 additional direct jobs (net) on the ground in the regions. It’s proof that our focus on the regions is paying off.

“The West region is seen as an attractive location for FDI and we have many excellent companies located here in the financial services space, in life sciences and in technology who are excellent reference sellers for us in working to attract new investment,” said Mr Conneely.

The West has a lot to offer international investors which helped the IDA in securing FDI to the region, he continued.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app

The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.