This article is from page 15 of the 2008-07-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
THERE was a net loss of 131 jobs in the Shannon Free zone in 2007, the development company’s annual re- port shows.
While 354 new jobs came on line, 485 job losses were recorded during the year.
But the good news in the report 1s that sales figures, considered to be a reliable barometer of growth in the knowledge economy, have grown tot he point where Shannon Free Zone International Services now accounts for 70 per cent of total Free Zone sales compared to just 56 per cent in
Auer
The report, unveiled yesterday to an audience of dignitaries including Ta- naiste Mary Coughland, Dail depu- ties and the mayors of Clare and En- nis, shows there are now more than 7,000 people employed in the Free Zone in more than 100 companies.
In 2006, the year for which latest figures are available, Shannon Free companies generated €3.3 billion in sales, over 90 per cent in exports.
Investments in 2007 included a €100 plus million investment by Schwarz Pharma and in-house re- search and development by compa- nies in the zone amounted to €40
million.
New companies which came into the Free Zone during the year includ- ed Whitehorse Insurance, PC Tools Softwear and Genesis leasing.
The development company sank €8 million in providing property solutions for indigenous and foreign direct investment companies during the year.
The company also completed 17 land transactions and ten building sales, generating more than €14 mil- lion for investments in future devel- opments.
Shannon Development entered into 64 new leases with business clients
during the year and there were more than 100 lease renewals completed with clients in the same period.
In the tourism brief, the region at- tracted two million visitors during the year and generated more than €443 million in tourism revenue. Shannon airport recorded more than 3.63 million passengers during the year.
The company’s tourism market- ing team got the tourism message out to 250 million potential visitors world-wide through attendance at 40 national and international trade and consumer tourism events, focused e-marketing campaigns and adver-
ornate
Domestic visitors to the region numbered some 865,000, a 13.6 per cent increase over the previous year which generated €150 mullion for the region.
During the year, the company worked with private sector promot- ers and investors on a range of tour- ism projects with a potential future investment of more than €250 mil- iteyne
A fund of £12 million was invested in broadband roll-out by Shannon Broadband Ltd, a public sector con- sortium led by Shannon Develop- ment.