IDA Ireland has welcomed IBM’s newly released 2015 edition of its annual Global Location Trends report, which ranks Ireland as the top destination in the world by quality and value of investments.

For the fourth year in a row, Ireland is the top ranking country in the world on this measure.
It continues to attract investment projects in industries characterized by high knowledge intensity and economic value added, such as life sciences and information and communication technology (ICT).

Ireland leads the group followed by Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania and the Netherlands. In addition, Ireland is in the top four of global destination countries by estimated jobs – per million inhabitants.

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Commenting on the report Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland said: “Ireland’s position as the top ranking destination for quality and value of investments is based on global measures of productivity, knowledge intensity and occupational profile composition represented by wages and skills, and highlights the value and exceptionally strong contribution that foreign direct investment makes towards Ireland’s economy.”

Ireland’s position as the top ranking destination for quality and value of investments is based on global measures of productivity, knowledge intensity and occupational profile composition represented by wages and skills, and highlights the value and exceptionally strong contribution that foreign direct investment makes towards Ireland’s economy.Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland.

The high quality and value of recent announcements in the Life Sciences and ICT sectors can be illustrated by a number of recent announcements such as

• Apple’s decision to invest €850 million investment in a data centre in Athenry, Galway creating 300 jobs in multiple phases
• Bristol-Myers Squibb decision to construct a new large-scale biologics manufacturing facility in Cruiserath, Ireland creating up to  350 to 400 manufacturing jobs and about 1,000 construction jobs
• Alexion announced its intention to invest €450 million in a new biologics manufacturing facility in Blanchardstown and create 200 full time jobs in one of the largest investments in healthcare in the history of the Irish state.

“Competition for FDI projects has never been as intense. IDA Ireland will continue to target blue-chip companies and the next wave of high growth companies  in the coming years and capitalise on Ireland’s position as one of the top destinations in the world for Foreign Direct Investment,” concluded Martin Shanahan

Full report available here  – www.ibm.com/gbs/pli