Ireland's Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, TD, pictured arriving in Shanghai to open the new Morgan McKinley offices. he is pictured shaking the hand of Morgan McKinley director Aldagh McDonogh, while group CEO Pat Fitzgerald is pictured in centre
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, TD, has this morning opened Morgan McKinley’s Shanghai, China, offices, a move which marks a €5m investment by the Irish global professional services recruiter in new Chinese operations, with the firm now planning to grow its Asian workforce to 200 over the next three years.
This morning’s announcement was made against the backdrop of the seven-day Enterprise Ireland trade and investment mission to China, which is being led by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD. Senior Chinese and multinational business executives, along with Enterprise Ireland’s chief executive Frank Ryan, were at this morning’s event in Shanghai.
Morgan McKinley’s investments in China and Hong Kong now amount to €5m, with the firm now employing 70 staff in China.
This morning Pat Fitzgerald, CEO, Morgan McKinley, confirmed the group intends to expand this to 200 staff covering its Asian operations over the next three years.
Morgan McKinley opened its first mainland China office in the Pudong high-growth economic zone in Shanghai last year. It is the first Irish recruiter to establish a presence in mainland China, with Vivian Ng leading the Morgan McKinley Shanghai operations.
Already, Morgan McKinley has a network of offices also in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Dubai, Ireland, France and the UK.
Another Irish company that is making strides in China is the Dublin-based multimedia electronics firm Movidius. On Saturday, as part of the China trade mission, Movidius announced it had signed a partnership deal valued at €19m with Chinese electronics manufacturing player Keen High Technologies.
Speaking this morning, Kenny said Morgan McKinley was a great example of how Irish companies can compete and win business anywhere in the world.
“Their success in China shows us how Irish services companies can become multinational players, bring inward investment into the country and create jobs. The Government will continue to support the international growth of Irish companies and relentlessly promote the message that now is the time to invest in Ireland,” he said.
Morgan McKinley’s clients in China include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Johnson & Johnson, Hang Seng, Giorgio Armani, Barclays and PepsiCo.
Kenny visited Morgan McKinley’s Shanghai office as part of his official State visit to China. His visit follows the recent visit to Ireland of Xi Jinping, vice-president of the People’s Republic of China. Xi is set to become president of China when the current president Hu Jintao’s second term ends in October.
The purpose of Kenny’s current visit to China is to enhance economic and trade co-operation and to expand cultural exchanges between Ireland and China.
