Information technology, biotechnology, engineering and financial services are sectors that Irish manufacturers are said to be keen on investing in.
World IT giants like Dell, Ericsson, HP and Intel, pharmaceutical giants Novartis, Roche and Genzyme have their base in Ireland, which exports 80 per cent of its manufactured goods.
The Irish engagement with Indian industry and trade will get a boost when Prime Minister Bertie Ahern leads a trade mission to India mid-January next. A 100-member delegation is expected to include chief executives of a number of multinationals.
Officials in Industrial Development Authority, responsible for attracting foreign direct investment, Enterprise Island and Irish Exporters Association say that joint ventures with Indian companies in information and communication technology and pharmaceutical sectors are also not ruled out.
Though definite proposals are yet to materialise, officials said that joint ventures with Indian IT giants like Infosys, Wipro and TCS and biotechnology leaders like Biocon which are on the cards could be concretised during the visit.
Enterprise Trade and Employment Minister Michael Martyn said as much when he pointed out that India had an established reputation in the software sector and there was potential scope for collaboration between industries in the two countries in this sector.
A highly export-driven booming economy, the "Celtic Tiger" boasts of Euro 83 billion in exports and Euro 50 billion in imports. Ireland attracted FDI to the tune of Euro 171 billion.
During 2004, exports with India accounted for Euro 109 while imports amounted to Euro 133 billion, show the trade balance slightly in India's favour.
Talking to visiting Indian journalists about prospects of multinationals investing in India, IDA's international marketing manager Brendan J Halpin points to a trade mission led by the Prime Minister to China earlier this year as part of the Asia strategy and how exports to that country had risen since then.
Speaking about his "exploratory" trade mission to India, Prime Minister Ahern said they were interested in investing in technology and services sector and in joint ventures with India including in third world countries.
He said India could use Ireland as a "launch pad" for its investment in Europe. As part of its strategy to expand its political and economic relations, Ireland is also putting in place a liberalised visa regime to enable easy entry to Indian students and skilled professionals for which a draft legislation has been made.
The legislation was currently under discussion in Parliament and officials said it was likely to be enacted soon. At present about 300 to 500 Indian professionals are working in Ireland and an equal number going there to study.
A liberalised visa regime would give multinational giants opportunities to choose and recruit knowledge industry professionals and skilled workers in any sector to work in Ireland, say officials both in government and industry.
The Science Foundation of India, which is funded by the Irish government to promote scientific research and development is planning to enter into an agreement with Indian Science Academy, Bangalore, during Ahern's visit to the city.
The agreement is slated to provide for collaboration in areas like exchange visit of scientists. Kiran Mazumdar Shah, Chief Executive of BioCon, originally Irish firm, will play a major role in facilitating Science and Technology research, SFI's Director of Corporate Affairs, Mattie McCabe said.
The Enterprise Ireland is planning to set up its office in Mumbai with India opening up its market catching their attention.
Civil Aviation is also one area, Ireland is interested in cooperating with India with the huge opening up of the sector there. Particular attention is being given to the possibility of setting up facilities for maintenance, repair and overhaul, called in popular parlance as "aviation garage."
Irish Exporters' Association chief executive John Whelan said there was a big potential in the services sectors, especially the financial sector, for outsourcing partnership. Google, e-Bay and Citi group are the biggest exporters of services from Ireland now.
He said at present the manufacturing sector was on the decline in Ireland due to high labour and fuel costs and a lack of willingness on the part of Irish people to take up low-end jobs, a sign of a prosperous society.
Outsourcing in Ireland is already causing problems. Ferry workers are up in arms and are on strike currently over outsourcing workers from some Eastern European countries.
Irish tractor manufacturer Bunsside was already outsourcing engineering components from Pune and some other companies are considering locating units in India, he said.
Irish IT software company CR2 has tied up with two or three Indian banks for manufacture of one lakh ATM machines.
In the pharmaceuticals sector, some large corporations are planning to open their subsidiaries. These include Meditent Tech, which manufactures water purifier tablets and M-doc, manufacturers of medicine for accelerated healing.
"We have an MoU between IEA and Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation in which most of the Irish exporters are members linked to the Asia Trade Forum," Whelan said.
The Irish Trade Mission to India will hopefully cooperate between the two countries for which there is a great scope, Whelan said.
