Kilkenny and South East is ‘best small region in Europe’ to invest in: Financial Times
Kilkenny and the South East is the best small region in Europe for companies looking to invest into.
That’s according to the influential Financial Times newspaper, which featured a glowing overview of the South East’s potential in its Foreign Direct Investment Report – European Cities and Regions of the Future 2020/21 – published this week.
The South East was listed in top 10 regions in Europe for economic potential, despite its relatively small size. It also ranked in the ‘small regions of the future’ category.
Speaking about the South East’s FDI Strategy, the Financial Times says: “Ireland South East is crowned the winner among small regions, with the Ireland South East Development Office (Isedo) established in 2018 to promote investment into the region’s five counties.
“Combined, Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford have a budget of €17m and employ 55 staff. Isedo is well positioned for open channels of engagement and communication around investment opportunities.
“A new engineering cluster of 200 companies was launched in June 2019 and a financial services cluster was scheduled for launch in October 2019.
“Plans are under way for additional clusters in sectors such as life sciences and the creative industries and Isedo offers grant aid, property incentives, a mentoring programme, consultancy services and access to education and training partners through the South East Regional Skills Forum,” the report concluds.
