12/02/2019

New Regional Enterprise Plan For The West

A new regional enterprise plan for the west of Ireland has been announced as part of nine investments to create jobs and support business growth through collaborative initiatives.

The Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys TD launched the plan at the Portershed, Galway City, on Monday 11 February.

The strategy is centred around six objectives that build on the region's strengths and targets vulnerabilities, including achieving further growth in life sciences, agri-tech, tourism and the creative sector as well as strengthening the regional ecosystem.

Minister Humphreys said: "The Regional Enterprise Plan for the West that I am launching today sets out a number of key strategic areas where stakeholders working together will provide a basis for future enterprise development and job creation that is sustainable in the longer term.

"I am pleased to note that jobs growth has been strong in all regions, including the West. There are 28,400 more people at work in the West today than at the beginning of 2015, when the Government first launched regional jobs plans, and the unemployment rate has reduced significantly from almost 12.6 percent in 2015 down to 6.6 percent.

"Notwithstanding this huge success, it is clear that there are new challenges emerging for enterprises in the external environment. Through this Regional Enterprise Plan, the region can adopt a leadership position through driving initiatives from the ground-up.

"As part of Project Ireland 2040, the Government has introduced a range of new funding streams such as the €1 billion Rural Regeneration Fund, the €2 billion Urban Development Fund, the €500 million Climate Action Fund and the €500m Disruptive Technologies Fund. These are in addition to other existing schemes such as my Department’s Regional Enterprise Development Fund and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.

"Given the wide range of stakeholders involved, the Regional Enterprise Steering Committee for the West is ideally placed to come up with innovative, collaborative projects of scale which can deliver real economic benefits for this region."



(JG/CM)

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