IDA Ireland to expand global footprint into Israel

IDA Ireland is looking to expand its global footprint by establishing a presence in Israel.

This follows the agency seeking expressions of interest from parties to appoint a business development consultant to be located in Israel.

IDA Ireland currently has 20 offices across the world and last year the running costs of its international network of offices increased by 14 per cent to €3.44 million.

The remit for the new Israel-based business development consultant is to win new foreign direct investment for the Republic from Israeli companies.

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The IDA brief for the job states that the business development consultant “will be expected to identify Israeli-headquartered target companies with potential for investing in Ireland, engage with senior decision-makers in these companies and present Ireland’s value proposition as an investment location”.

The IDA brief continues: “It is an essential requirement that the consultant must be physically based in Israel.”

A spokeswoman for IDA Ireland said on Tuesday that the move to appoint the Israeli-based business development consultant “is in order to have a presence on the ground to complement and support our efforts from Ireland to win new investment. This is a model we use across all territories.”

She stated: “Many firms are looking to internationalise into new markets and Ireland is a proven location for global companies to grow and serve their customer base in the EMEA region.”

Office costs

According to figures provided by the IDA in response to a Freedom of Information request, the most costly office to operate by the IDA last year was New York at €689,000.

The second most costly office was the IDA’s Mumbai/Bangalore office at €532,000 with London the third most costly office at €316,000.

The costs include annual lease and rents in addition to operating and telephone costs.

The FOI figures show that 38 IDA personnel are employed in the US including 11 in New York and eight at Mountainview, California. A further 17 IDA staff are employed in Asia, including seven in China.