Welcoming reception on the occasion of the International Financial Institutions Conference

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests;

I am delighted to welcome you here this evening to our beautifully refurbished ball room at Iveagh House, the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

I know we have some distinguished guests from the World Bank; the European Investment Bank; the Asian Development Bank; the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; the East Africa Regional Development; the African Development Bank Group and UNIDO.

I want to salute this initiative on the part of the Department of Finance, my own department and Enterprise Ireland. It has provided us with this opportunity to bring all of you together here so we in Ireland can enjoy the benefit of your collective wisdom. It is an excellent opportunity to learn from you how we can engage more effectively with the institutions you represent.

It is also an opportunity for you to familiarise yourselves with the expertise and dynamism existing across a wide range of companies in the services sectors in Ireland. I have no doubt you will be very impressed.

As many of you are aware, today we launched our Official Development Assistance Annual Report. This Report outlined the strong progress that we are making in meeting the commitments of our development strategy, A Better World. It again emphasises that multilateralism and working with others is at the heart of Ireland’s approach to the resolution of global challenges.

In this regard, Ireland continues to support International Financial Institutions as they work towards eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity in some of the world’s Least Developed Countries.

Private sector investment, including that of Irish companies, is critical in achieving these objectives. International Financial Institutions have an important role in providing an enabling environment and catalysing private sector activities.

It is for this reason that I encourage you all to engage with the organisations that are present and to explore the opportunities for investment in order to realise our shared goals of development and prosperity.

Ireland has and will continue to support International Financial Institutions in their work. For example, we participate in World Bank Trust Funds such as the Facility for Investment Climate Advisory Services and Conflict Affected States in Africa Initiative both of which support private sector growth, job creation, and stability in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.

More recently we have established a €12 million Trust Fund for Pacific Small Island Developing States through the Asian Development Bank. This ground breaking Trust Fund will support climate and disaster resilience in Small Island Developing States that are members of the Asian Development Bank.

In closing, let me reiterate that in their endeavours to engage with you, the companies here tonight and at the conference tomorrow will have the full support of the government of Ireland, and its ministries and agencies.

I am looking forward to meeting you over the course of the evening. I wish you every success for the conference tomorrow, and for your future engagement.