[The Editors' Verdict] Ireland, the "Textbook of Miracles"

Founded in 2000, the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has transformed Ireland from an innovation laggard to an innovation leader by supporting over 300 billion won annually in scientific funding across various fields. Bill Harris, former Secretary General, and Pete Mackey, former Director, who led SFI in its early days, recently published a book detailing SFI's success secrets (How to Change the Future). They warned, "If the United States fails to recognize Ireland's success secrets, it will fall behind other countries in innovation, education, and research and development (R&D)." SFI was established modeled after the U.S. National Science Foundation, but now the U.S. should learn from SFI.

New Zealand public policy think tank, the New Zealand Initiative (NI), released a report last year titled "The Ireland Secret - Lessons from Ireland's Prosperity." The report analyzed how Ireland, with a similar population of 5 million and having experienced the 19th-century Great Famine, has achieved prosperity that amazes the world, and what New Zealand should do. The report highlighted lessons from Ireland such as ▲education for all ▲openness to foreign direct investment ▲a business-friendly culture. Ireland's rate of higher education attainment among those aged 25 to 74 approaches 50%, ranking first among 40 European Union (EU) countries.

While New Zealand faces low growth, high inflation, and youth unemployment, Ireland is effectively at full employment. As of the third quarter of 2023, the employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 was 74.1%, and the labor force participation rate for those aged 15 and over was 65.8%. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ireland grew by more than 5%, and in 2021, it recorded a growth rate of 13.5%, more than double the EU average. The fertility rate was 1.72 in 2021, more than twice that of South Korea (0.8). In 2022, Ireland's per capita gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded $100,000, ranking second in the world after Luxembourg. Ireland is nicknamed the "European Headquarters" and the "Silicon Valley of Europe." Thanks to maintaining a low corporate tax rate of 12.5% for 20 years since 2003 (for reference, South Korea's nominal corporate tax rate is 26.5%), it serves as the European base for IT, pharmaceutical, and bio companies such as Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, IBM, Pfizer, GSK, and AstraZeneca. More than 1,500 multinational corporations create 270,000 jobs in Ireland.

Ireland shares many similarities with South Korea. It was once a British colony and was divided into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland after the independence war. It achieved rapid economic growth from being one of the poorest countries in a short time. Between 1995 and 2007, it enjoyed a boom period known as the Celtic Tiger. Like South Korea, it received bailout funds from the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2010 but repaid them early within three years. While foreign media say the "Miracle on the Han River" has ended, Ireland continues to write its own miracle as a "textbook of miracles."

Ireland's growth cannot be explained by one or two policies alone. It set goals and consistently pursued policies after a long period of trial and error. A notable point in the NI report is the business-friendly culture. NI stated, "Ireland recognizes private companies not as a 'necessary evil' but as an 'essential' part of a thriving community," adding, "This deeply rooted business-friendly culture applies across all areas of public policy, leading to remarkable success." They also said, "New Zealand cannot change this culture overnight but must change the cultural landscape step by step." This is a point for South Korea's business community, which has long called for lowering corporate taxes to create a "business-friendly environment," to reconsider carefully.