IDA to Help Indian SMEs Build Presence in Europe Through Ireland

Ireland's inward investment promotion agency, IDA (Industrial Development Agency), is the country's non-commercial, semi-state body. It aims to promote FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) into Ireland by offering a wide range of services. The agency partners with established companies, large and small, to help them establish or expand their operations in Ireland.

Leo Clancy, IDA's head of technology, consumer and business services recently visited India and spoke to us about IDA's plans for promoting trade between Ireland and Indian SMEs, their plans for India, companies that’ve already setup ops in Ireland, and much more. Here's the complete interview.

Q. Please elaborate on IDA's focus for promoting India’s SME sector.

IDA looks to attract both large and SME organizations to begin operations in Ireland. IDA’s experience is that expanding operations globally typically begin with a small footprint of 20-30 employees over the first 3-4 years. And this grows over time as the market sustains greater numbers of employees.

Q. Specifically, what engagements has IDA done to promote trade between Ireland and Indian SMEs?

IDA has worked with companies like Synowledge, Aris Global, Zomato at an early stage to assist them in their entry into Europe and set-up shop in Ireland. We provide information, advice, and access to our network in Ireland (Government, companies, service providers). We host due diligence visits to Ireland to help companies confirm that Ireland is the right place for their European business operations and provide support throughout the life cycle of a company’s presence in Ireland to ensure their success over time.

Q. What are IDA's plans for India?

IDA hopes to grow the understanding in India of what Ireland offers to companies expanding to Europe. Ireland can be the hub for a company’s Europe-wide operations as it is part of the European Union and the Euro. We hope to grow the number of Indian companies with a significant presence in Ireland from 35 companies to 60 and employment from 2500 to 5000 by 2018. We hope to add 6-8 companies per year.

Q. A bulk of Indian SMEs are not very tech savvy. What are IDAs plans for promoting the use of technology amongst them?

IDA’s task is to promote Ireland as a location from which companies can access the European market. Our sister agency Enterprise Ireland helps to grow Irish start-ups and SMEs and help them export globally. They advise companies on the adaption on technology within those SMEs.

Q. What sort of tie-ups has IDA done/planned between Indian SMEs and Ireland's industries?

We make introductions between Irish and Indian companies but do not directly get involved in the negotiations. Enterprise Ireland has a team in Mumbai working with Irish Companies to build links with Indian companies in India.

Q. Which industry verticals are you planning to target and across which geographies in India?

IDA targets a number of verticals in India where there is a good fit in Ireland. Specifically, we’re looking at the following industries

• Technology (Product and services)

• Life sciences

• Pharmaceuticals

• Medical Devices

• Financial Services

• Engineering

We actively target companies across major metros in India (NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore) and other cities (Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, etc). However, we work with companies’ right across India who have an interest in finding out more about Ireland.

Q. Please elaborate on successful engagements already done by IDA with Indian industries.

Quite a few Indian companies have major operations in Ireland. From technologies services, there’s HCL, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Wipro, Infosys, and NIIT. Edgeverve, Snowledge, Aris Global, and Zomato are some tech product companies with presence in Ireland. Likewise, we have renowned companies from Life Sciences, Engineering, and even Financial Services having operations in Ireland.