Goal 9: Contribute to Regional Growth and International Potential

High-Level Goal 9 will form a major cross-cutting element of the LECP. It is designed to respond to and enable all of the Economic Action Areas.

Indicative Actions

• Co. Kilkenny is already party to a significant number of regional initiatives that have a direct bearing on the economic development of the region. These will be reinforced through this goal, which will seek to initialise and capitalise on regional activity, particularly where this is focussed on realising new and emerging international opportunities;
• From an economic perspective, the goal will facilitate the development of international linkages that result in access to international markets in terms of export potential for local business, and in terms of encouraging FDI and visitors;
• It is recognised that the performance of all Local Authorities in successfully accessing EU resources has been less than optimal over recent years compared to other European municipalities.  This goal will be used to enable the county to develop a more coherent and successful mechanism for pursuing additional funding and resource opportunities.  As outlined above, Kilkenny County Council will establish an EU Unit to proactively identify opportunities, and in developing innovative engagement models that seek to scale-up local actions to secure access to appropriate EU funding.  Focus will be given to INTERREG funding and the new ERDF Urban Development Fund, and also enabling actions related to relevant initiatives of investment programmes such as the SFI;
• Research Centres Programme and the Irish Strategic Investment Fund; and
• The goal will continue to facilitate 3^rd Level international linkages and networks that are designed to add value to the existing or emerging business community in Co. Kilkenny and the region.

Background Profile

Over the period 2010-2014 the IDA reports that it won 34 investments for the South East region (Wexford, Waterford Carlow, Kilkenny, and South Tipperary). There are currently 12,081 people employed by IDA clients in the region in a range of companies, with particular strengths in medical technologies.  A 30 percent to 40 percent uplift in projects would result in 44 to 48 projects for the region.

The Life Sciences and PharmaChem sector has a defined requirement for a skilled labour pool, competitively priced property options, robust telecommunications infrastructure.  The IDA's Belview site is available for pharmaceutical, industry and technology use. 

Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) offers significant research expertise capability locally to the sector through its Pharmaceutical and Molecular Biotechnology Research Centre (PMBRC).  This facility focusses on areas such as polymeric materials, drug delivery, process technologies, separation science and molecular biotechnology.