Ireland, the World's Richest Country, Hosts Mu-hyup's 'Networking Day'...

Martial Arts, 'Han-Ireland Business Networking Day'
Corporate Tax: Ireland 12.5%, Korea up to 24%
Large Corporations R&D Tax Credit Rate: 25% VS 0~2%

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) announced on the 2nd that it held the Korea-Ireland Business Networking Day on the 1st at the Trade Tower in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in collaboration with the Irish Enterprise Agency.

KITA stated that the event was held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. On the Korean side, Vice Chairman Jeong Manki and about 60 representatives from domestic startups attended. On the Irish side, Minister Simon Coveney of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Clancy, Director General of the Enterprise Agency, Michael Lohan, Director General of the Industrial Development Authority, and six mid-sized and startup companies including the unicorn company TransferMate participated.

Last year, Ireland ranked third in the world with a per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $104,237 (approximately 141.5 million KRW). Considering that Luxembourg and Singapore, ranked first and second, are city-states, Ireland is effectively first. The secret lies in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) from global companies such as Apple and Google through low corporate tax rates and high tax credit rates.

Vice Chairman Jeong Manki of KITA said that Ireland has maintained the lowest corporate tax rate in Europe at 12.5% since 2003. This is about half of Korea’s highest corporate tax rate of 24% last year. The R&D tax credit for large corporations is 25%, more than ten times higher than Korea’s 0-2%. Ireland’s GDP last year was about $500 billion (approximately 680 trillion KRW), about one-third of Korea’s nominal GDP of $1.6733 trillion (approximately 2,270 trillion KRW). However, over the past 10 years (2013-2022), Ireland earned an average annual FDI of $65.4 billion (approximately 89 trillion KRW). During this period, Ireland’s FDI inflow was 2.5 times that of Korea ($12.6 billion, approximately 17 trillion KRW).

Vice Chairman Jeong said, "Ireland has become the European base for American big tech companies such as Apple and Google because of its low corporate tax rates and high tax credit rates," adding, "Although the tax rate is low, corporate revenue growth has actually increased tax revenue." He continued, "20% of the national tax revenue is covered by corporate taxes from multinational companies," and "Ireland’s per capita GDP is expected to be the highest in the world this year."

Jung Manki, Vice Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (left), and Simon Coveney, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment of Ireland (right in the photo), meet to exchange views on expanding Korea-Ireland exchanges and pose for a commemorative photo.
[Photo by Korea International Trade Association]

Vice Chairman Jeong emphasized the need to learn from Ireland. He said, "Korea, as a small open economy, should benchmark pro-business policies such as the uniform application of large corporation R&D tax credits and the introduction of low corporate tax rates to expand future growth engines and increase GDP."

Minister Coveney said, "Ireland is improving its economic structure through balanced and open economic policies that foster innovative domestic companies and attract high value-added foreign investment," and added, "We look forward to continued cooperation with Korean companies in new industries including artificial intelligence (AI)."

The event featured presentations on Ireland’s investment environment and startup support. One-on-one consultations and networking sessions between domestic companies and Irish firms were also arranged. Vijay Rao, Asia-Pacific representative of TransferMate, an Irish fintech unicorn company, said, "Through one-on-one consultations, we were able to discuss R&D cooperation opportunities with Korean fintech companies," and added, "We hope to collaborate with excellent Korean companies to increase opportunities for entry into the Asian market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.