A summit to address the country's national competitiveness is being held today at Government Buildings.
The Taoiseach will chair the discussion along with relevant ministers and trade bodies as well as the chair of the Competitiveness Council.
The talks will focus on three main areas - adapting to global disruption, which includes subsidies and new technologies, enhancing our infrastrucutre offering and supporting companies to scale and prosper by harnessing new technologies.
One area they will be looking particularly closely at is the recent tendency to protectionism that has been seen in numerous regions, not least of all the US.
It has moved to onshore high risk industrial production in areas like semi-conductors, battery production and cars.
Chambers Ireland has warned about this issue in recent days in light of the moves by Canada to increase tariffs on steel, aluminium and EVs.
It pointed out that trade barriers have massive ripple effects which have a particular impact on small, open economies like ours.
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Ian Talbot, the chief executive of Chambers Ireland, said that protectionism has been getting worse in recent years with larger countries increasingly acting in isolation from World Trade Organization rules.
"We think of tarrif barriers in terms of hindering business growth and economic progress, but in reality they get passed on to consumers as well and are a threat to consumer prices," he cautioned.
