This article is from page 57 of the 2005-09-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 57 JPG
THE Annual Competitiveness Report 2005, produced by Forfas, contains a wealth of information on key indicators for Irish busi- ness and industry.
GNP (Gross National Product) per capita in 2004 was €25,704, and GDP (Gross Domestic Prod- uct) was €30,691. Real GDP erowth was 4.9 per cent, while that for GNP was 5.5 per cent.
For the same year, labour force participation was 71 per cent. This refers to the portion of the population aged between 15 and 64 years that was either in em- ployment or actively seeking it.
The labour force is projected to grow by 1.3 per cent this year. There has been a substantial in- crease in employment in Ireland over the last decade, from 1.3 million in 1995 to 1.9 million this year.
With over one hundred pages of these and other statistics, the
report is well worth reading. It is wide-ranging, covering factors from quality of life to taxation and regulation, from environ- mental sustainability to entrepre- neurship and innovation.
According to Don Thornhill, chairman of the National Com- petitiveness Council, GDP is expected to grow by 5.3 per cent this year, more than double the OECD average of 2.6 per cent.
“The rate of economic growth is an important signal of com- petitiveness,’ Dr Thornhill stated. “Using this criterion, Ire- land is one of the most competi- tive economies in the developed world.”
He points out that there are challenges, however. Our rate of growth, while still high, has slowed down compared with previous years, and we are fall- ing behind our peers in North America and Continental Eu- rope in terms of prices and costs competitiveness. Costs are par-
ticularly high in the energy and waste management areas.
“Higher costs and the current weakness of the US dollar are making Ireland an expensive production location relative to our trading partners,” he com- ments.
In a foreword, An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says that competi- tiveness is a key focus of govern- ment policy.
“The Government is_ deter- mined that the conditions for enterprises operating in Ireland should be as favourable as possi- ble,’ Mr Ahern stated. “This en- compasses policies on the skills needs of the population, the knowledge capital in the econo- my, the physical infrastructure, the costs that businesses face, the utilities and services that businesses need, the regulatory environment and other factors.”
Many of these aspects are benchmarked in the report.