2. Country environments:
2. 1. General information:
Size / area (in sq. km): 84, 412 km^2 (32, 591 sq mi)
Capital city: Dublin
Climate: Overall, Ireland has a mild, but changeable, Oceanic climate with few extremes
Population: slightly under six million (2006/7), with almost 4. 25 million in the Republic of Ireland (1.
7 million in Greater Dublin) and an estimated 1. 75 million in Northern Ireland (0. 6 million in Greater Belfast).
Racial: Caucasian
Ethnic groups: largely homogeneous, Irish, with English minority, Irish, Anglo-Irish, Ulster-Scots, others
Location of the country in the world: It lies to the northwest of Continental Europe.
It is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain.
2. 2. Cultural environment:
Language- Irish (Gaeilge) is a Celtic language of the Goidelic branch spoken in Ireland
Religion (s): Roman Catholics (91. 6 per cent); Protestants, the only significant religious minority (3 per cent); small communities of Jews (0.
04 per cent), and 12, 000-15, 000 Muslims (0. 4 per cent), many of whom are refugees.
2. 3.
Political environment:
Political system: identify and describe the political system and the political conditions in your country. Take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic. The Uachtaran (President) is the head of state. The Taoiseach (Prime Minister) is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Oireachtas the bicameral national parliament, which consists of Dail Eireann and Seanad Eireann.
The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. While there are a number of important political parties in the state, the political landscape is dominated by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, historically opposed and competing entities. The state is a member of the European Union.
A number of political parties are represented in the Dail and coalition governments are common. Neither of the two largest parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, strongly identifies itself as either a left or right-wing group. The third largest party in the state is the centre-left Labour Party.
Labour is joined on the left by the Green Party and on the far-left by Sinn Fein and the Socialist Party. The right is represented by the Progressive Democrats who are classical neo-liberals with regard to economic policy. Independent TDs (MPs) also play an important role in Irish politics.
2. 4. Economic environment:
Years GDP/GNP Population Per capita income
$ Million % growth In million % growth GDP/Pop.
% growth
1996 62, 150. 20 3. 63 17, 121. 26
1997 71, 855. 29 15. 6 3.
67 1. 1 19, 579. 09 14. 4
1999 85, 232.
14 18. 6 3. 70 0. 8 23, 035. 71 17.
6
1999 119, 405. 68 40. 0 3. 75 1. 3 31, 841. 51 38.
2
2000 142, 380. 21 19. 2 3. 8 1.
3 37, 841. 51 17. 6
2001 159, 006. 01 11. 6 3. 86 1.
5 41, 193. 26 9. 94
2002 176, 970. 38 11. 2 3. 93 0.
9 45, 030. 63 9. 31
2003 189, 211. 68 6.
91 3. 99 1. 5 47, 421. 47 5. 30
2004 200, 961. 41 6.
20 4. 07 2. 0 49, 376. 26 4.
12
2005 219, 473. 90 9. 2 4. 14 1. 7 53, 013. 01 9.
31
3. Trade and foreign direct investment (provide tables and explain each):
3. 1. Trade: Your country’s trade
Exports Imports
Products Exports
($million) Exports
(%) Products Imports
($million) Imports
(%)
AIRCRAFT, SPACECRAFT, AND PARTS
NUCLEAR REACTORS, BOILERS, MACHINERY ETC
OPTIC, PHOTO ETC, MEDIC OR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS
ELECTRIC MACHINERY ETC; SOUND EQUIP; TV EQUIP
PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS
All Others
2, 227, 220, 035
1, 846, 848, 237
1, 693, 265, 604
936, 554, 032
687, 639, 909
9, 335, 338, 294 24. 4
19. 8
18.
1
10
27. 7
7. 4 MINERAL FUEL, OIL ETC. ; BITUMEN SUBST; MINERAL WAX
NUCLEAR REACTORS, BOILERS, MACHINERY ETC. ; PARTS
ELECTRIC MACHINERY ETC; SOUND EQUIP; TV EQUIP; PTS
VEHICLES, EXCEPT RAILWAY OR TRAMWAY, AND PARTS ETC
All Others 286, 412, 064, 033
228, 801, 630, 915
207, 477, 605, 184
199, 805, 856, 908
754, 443, 217, 912 17. 1
13.
3
12. 4
12
45. 2
Total 9, 335, 338, 294 100 Total 1, 670, 940, 374, 952 100
Years Exports Imports Trade Balance
1996 3, 668. 8 4, 803. 8 -1, 135. 0
1997 4, 642.
2 5, 866. 7 -1, 224. 5
1998 5, 646. 8 8, 400. 8 -2, 754.
0
1999 6, 383. 4 10, 994. 5 -4, 611. 1
2000 7, 713. 3 16, 463. 4 -8, 750.
1
2001 7, 7144. 0 18, 499. 4 -11, 355. 4
2002 6, 745.
0 22, 437. 6 -15, 692. 6
2003 7, 695. 7 25, 746. 5 -18, 050. 9
2004 8, 167.
2 27, 447. 9 -19, 280. 7
2005 9, 335. 7 28, 733. 1 -19, 397. 4
3.
2. FDI: FDI in your country
Years FDI ($million) FDI growth (in %)
1996 2, 617, 482, 740
1997 2, 712, 073, 053 1. 036
1998 8, 579, 309, 130 3. 163
1999 18, 217, 719, 400 2. 124
2000 25, 843, 251, 600 1.
418
2001 9, 659, 046, 000 0. 3736
2002 24, 486, 312, 000 2. 535
2003 25, 497, 248, 000 1. 041
2004 9, 119, 544, 200 0.
3577
4. Monetary environment (tables with explanation):
4. 1. Inflation: Your country’s inflation rates
Years Inflation rates (in %)
1996 1. 6
1997 1. 5
1998 2.
1
1999 1. 6
2000 5. 6
2001 4. 9
2002 4.
7
2003 3. 5
2004 2. 2
2005 2. 5
4. 2. : Your country’s exchange rates
Years Exchange rates
1996 $1 = 0.
6248
1997 $1 = 0. 6588
1998 $1 = 0. 7014
1999 $1 = 0. 9374
2000 $1 = 0. 9865
2001 $1 = 1. 0620
2002 $1 = 1.
12184
2003 $1 = 0. 95256
2004 $1 = 0. 79515
2005 $1 = 0. 73725
5.
Country evaluation:
5. 1. Overall assessment:
Make an assessment of how your country is doing. Your assessment should be based on what you have said in points 2, 3 and 4. Remember, in points 2, 3 & 4, you are asked to only provided information, without taking position. In point 5, you have a chance to say what you think.
5. 2. Country attractiveness:
Yes, given the close economic, political, and cultural relations that exist between Ireland and the United States, business opportunities for U. S. companies are broad based and easily accomplished. In general, Irish business executives are less formal than their European counterparts and the use of first names at an early stage of a business relationship is acceptable.
Friendship and mutual trust are highly valued and once an American has earned this trust, a productive working relationship can usually be expected. However, principles of customary business courtesy, especially replying promptly to sales orders and requests for price quotations, are a prerequisite for success and should be practiced.
6. US MNE’s investment in your country (let’s call the US MNE “Beta, Corp.” ):
6. 1. Investment choice:
Choose one industry in which Beta, Inc.
should invest (explain).
I choose this investment for Beta because Ireland is the world’s major medical technology companies have helped to make Ireland Europe’s leading location for medical device manufacture. The principal product categories covered within Ireland include interventional products; diagnostics; medical equipment; dental, vision and hearing products; orthopedics; disposables; and support products and services. This has increased in sophistication and complexity over the past decade, as suppliers have become more closely involved in the product development efforts of their customers.
Their range of activities includes the provision of sterilization services, tool making, injection molding, contract manufacturing, sub-assembly and print and packaging. Management buyout activity has also started to take place within the supply chain, so that an increasing proportion of it is now held by Irish investors.
6. 3.
Opportunities and risks: Identify Beta, Inc.’s opportunities and risks in your country
The one risk in investing with Ireland would be the currency. The U. S dollar is only equal to 0. 73725 cents.