Irish investment in the US at an all-time high, Leo Varadkar says
Irish premier Leo Varadkar has said that Irish investment in the United States is at an all-time high.
The Taoiseach made the comment in Washington DC as part of his St Patrick’s Day visit to the US.
Mr Varadkar kicked off his first number of engagements at the US Chamber of Commerce with Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland.
“Ireland has a dynamic and innovation-based enterprise sector, backed by State investment, which is expanding its presence and impact in the US,” he said.
Here in Washington DC and starting a busy week by meeting some friends from home: the Dublin and Belfast Chambers of Commerce pic.twitter.com/49gva5OFEl
— Leo Varadkar (@campaignforleo) March 13, 2019
“I look forward to meeting with some of these companies in the coming days and hearing of their plans for the future.”
His comments come after a number of Irish companies announced the creation of some 280 new jobs in the US.
Netwatch Group, a provider of live remote monitoring for critical infrastructure security, and healthcare technology company RelateCare are creating 100 and 180 new jobs respectively.
Irish businesses employ 100000 people in the US and Ireland is the ninth largest source of foreign direct investment here. I’m meeting some of these Irish companies who are bringing jobs and investment here in Washington today with @Entirlpic.twitter.com/1TxYhZFhiY
— Leo Varadkar (@campaignforleo) March 13, 2019
Ireland is now the ninth largest source of foreign direct investment into the United States at 146.2 billion US dollars (£110.6 billion).
Mr Varadkar added: “The scale and diversity of this investment is indicative of the strength of the partnership between our two countries.”
There are more than 520 Irish companies operating at 954 locations across all 50 US states, employing more than 100,000 American workers.