 FUAD SULEYMANOV  ASLI ÇAYLAK  REVAN ABDURAHMANLI

 Despite the two jurisdictions using two distinct currencies (the euro and pound sterling), a growing amount of commercial activity is carried out on an all- island basis. This has been facilitated by the two jurisdictions' shared membership of the European Union, and there have been calls from members of the business community and policymakers for the creation of an "all-island economy" to take advantage of economies of scale and boost competitiveness.

Trade  Ireland’s total trade in 2011 was approximately €304 billion, with a merchandise trade surplus of more than €43 billion. Total goods exports amounted to €173 billion, with services exports valued at €131 billion. The main merchandise goods traded include organic chemicals (mainly for the pharmaceutical sector), medical & pharmaceutical products and computers. The main services areas are Computer Services, Trade Related Business Services and Insurance and Financial Services.  Ireland’s main trading partners include the United States, Great Britain, Belgium,  Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Japan. Trade with other markets, such as China, Russia and Mexico, is also expanding rapidly.

 Ireland is a member of the eurozone and ratified the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty in October Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s Fine Gael government was elected in February Ireland’s modern, highly industrialized economy performed extraordinarily well throughout the 1990s and most of the next decade, encouraged by free- market policies that attracted investment capital, but in 2008, a speculative housing bubble burst. A 2010 National Recovery Plan, implemented after the government nationalized several banks and accepted a $90 billion European Union–International Monetary Fund rescue package, aims to get the economy back on a solid footing by In February 2013, Ireland reached agreement with the European Central Bank to restructure loans and ease the debt burden incurred when Anglo Irish Bank was nationalized in 2009.

 Contracts are secure and expropriation is rare, but corruption, including cronyism, political patronage, and illegal donations, is a recurring problem. In 2012, a former prime minister resigned from his political party due to perceptions of corruption. Ireland’s legal system is based on common law, and the judiciary is independent. An efficient, non- discriminatory legal system protects the acquisition and disposition of all property rights.

 The top individual income tax rate is 41 percent, and the top corporate tax rate is 12.5 percent. Other taxes include a value-added tax (VAT) and a capital gains tax. The total tax burden is 27.6 percent of gross domestic income. Government spending is 48.1 percent of the domestic economy. Public debt still exceeds 117 percent of GDP, but ratings agencies have raised Ireland’s debt outlook in response to austerity measures.

 With no minimum capital requirement, incorporating a business takes only four procedures and slightly longer than one week. Completing licensing requirements is not burdensome. The labor market remains relatively flexible, and labor costs are moderate. Monetary stability has been relatively well maintained, and prices are generally set by market forces, but the government subsidizes some industries (for example, wind energy).

 EU members have a low 1.1 percent average tariff rate. Ireland has few barriers to international trade and investment. Domestic and foreign firms generally receive equal treatment under a competitive and efficient investment regime. The structure of the banking sector has changed significantly through massive recapitalization and restructuring. Considerable consolidation has taken place among domestic lenders.

 Competition law as rules of general application to all sectors of the economy with few exceptions are intended to be applied in good and bad economic times. Nevertheless, where an industry or even an entire economy is experiencing difficult times, there is pressure on competition agencies not to apply competition laws or to apply them in an attenuated way. Sometimes, governments are invited to enact laws exempting certain conduct or certain sectors from the application of competition laws on the grounds that the application of competition laws will hinder industry-led efforts to address the crisis in which there may be a persistent low level of demand coupled with chronic excess capacity in the sector. Where the industry is important to the economy including being a major source of employment, governments are called upon to act.

 After its robust rebound in 2014, the Irish economy is projected to continue growing strongly during the next two years. The expansion of activity will continue to be driven by business investment and exports. Employment growth and falling unemployment will take away spare capacity and moderately raise price and wage inflation.  The strong cyclical recovery needs to be complemented with continuing structural reforms to increase competition, raise innovation, make it easier to start and grow a business, and improve the relevance of vocational training to the labour market. Fiscal policy has prematurely shifted from consolidation to stimulus. If government revenue is higher than budgeted this should be put towards reducing still-high public debt more rapidly.

 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION