Enterprise Ireland
Annual Report and Accounts 2005
Annual Report and Accounts 2005
The 16th annual CEO Forum was held in Dublin with the theme Building Scale: The Global Challenge.
The CEO Forum, co-hosted by Enterprise Ireland and Deloitte, brought together more than 400 senior business people from companies all over Ireland. The Forum provides a unique opportunity for CEOs to air their views, share information, network and hear some of Ireland’s leading CEOs talk about their successes and the challenges they face nationally and internationally.
Building companies to a scale which allows for sustained international growth is one of the key challenges facing indigenous industry. The theme chosen for this year’s CEO Forum, Building Scale: The Global Challenge , recognises that for small and medium-sized enterprises the issue of building scale is a complex transition that requires ambition, transformational change and strong leadership.
The key speakers were: the Minister for Trade and Commerce, Mr. Michael Ahern TD; Julie Sinnamon, Head of Corporate Development, Enterprise Ireland; Pat Kenny, Managing Partner, Deloitte; Ronan O’Caoimh, CEO, Trinity Biotech plc; Raomal Perera, CEO, Valista; and George Lee, Chief Economist, RTE. Journalist and broadcaster Olivia O’Leary was the moderator.
Minister Michael Ahern, in his address to the CEO Forum, said:
“While the challenges are clear to see, so too are the opportunities. The clarity and understanding of the issues demonstrated during today’s Forum together with the commitment to international growth by Irish CEOs is very significant. Ireland’s new confidence means we can face the economy’s next phase of growth with high expectations.”
Officially opening the event, Julie Sinnamon said:
“Ireland is well recognised as being strong in entrepreneurship but we need to become more significantly engaged with ambitious companies that have the capability to achieve international scale. Success in accelerating the creation of companies of global scale in Ireland will be an important element in the transformation of Irish industry. A key part of Enterprise Ireland’s strategy is to tackle this issue.”
