The group's director, Matt Moran, said that the 'golden years' of growth for this sector in Ireland are over because of the tough competitive environment it is now facing, reports Phil Taylor.
"The jewel in the crown of the Irish economy, currently worth €35.7 billion in exports and employing 24,000 people, will need careful nurturing in the future- otherwise we may see much of its shine fading," he told a meeting convened for the launch of a new report from the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, of which PharmaChem Ireland is a part.
The report, entitledFocused on a healthy future, outlines many of the challenges facing the sector in the near term.
These include a spiralling rise in operational costs across the board - gas prices up 23 per cent in 2003, local authority charges up 41% in 2002 - and a "creaking and unsatisfactory waste management infrastructure."
Ireland is one of the last countries in Europe to continue to export its hazardous waste - 275 000 tonnes in 2001, according to the IBEC.
Also criticised is the ongoing decline in the study of science throughout Irish schools - with the number of students sitting chemistry for the school leaving certificate halving since the early 1980s.
Top of the list, however, was the increasingly stiff competition from companies in the Far East and from Puerto Rico for new investment, helped by generous local operating environments, For example, zero per cent corporation tax still applies in Singapore, noted Moran.
PharmaChem Ireland (formerly known as The Irish Pharmaceutical and Chemical Manufacturers Federation) sets out a roadmap for maintaining Ireland's position in the world market. Recommendations include measures to curb operating costs, improving the environmental performance of companies by cutting volatile organic chemical emissions, giving tax credits for R&D and promoting the study of science in schools.
Moran added: "Though Ireland still ranks among the top locations in the world to manufacture pharmaceuticals and chemicals the competition from locations in the Asia such as Singapore, India and China will become increasingly fierce."
"Ireland will have to fight hard to maintain its position as a leader - it will also need to look at ways of collaborating with these countries- it can only do this from a position of strength, built on innovation."