Ireland is now ranked as the fourth largest destination for investment from American companies according to figures released in advanced of the Global Irish Economic Forum, in Dublin.



Investment from the United States rose by one percent in 2012 to $22.8 billion. This increase also contrasts with the overall drop of 17.5 percent in American investment across the rest of Europe.



The report note Ireland as an “important strategic cog in the global operations of many of the world's top corporations''.



It also notes that Irish firms have a ''sizeable'' presence in the US. Irish firms directly employ more US workers in America that US firms employ Irish workers in Ireland - 136,100 and 115,000 respectively.



The report’s author, Joseph P Quinlan, told RTE “'If we have learned anything in the post-crisis era, it is this - Irish and US relations are resilient and robust, and above all else, built to last.”



The American Chamber of Commerce Ireland published the highlights of the “Irish-US Linkages Post-Crisis Ties are even Stronger and More Critical” chapter as follows:



- Since the Great Recession of 2008/09, and amid swirling winds of global change, Ireland has become even more important and more critical to the global success of corporate America.



- Over the five-year period starting in 2008 and ending in 2012, U.S. firms invested more capital in Ireland ($129.5 billion) than in the previous 58 years combined.



- The level of investment in Ireland over 2008-2012 was roughly 14 times larger than U.S. investment in China.



- In 2012, Ireland ranked as the fourth largest recipient of U.S. FDI, garnering almost as much U.S. investment as all of developing Asia. While U.S. investment to Ireland rose marginally last year, by roughly 1%, to $22.8 billion, total U.S. investment to the EU declined sharply, by 17.5%.



- In the first half of 2013, Ireland moved up in the rankings, emerging as the third largest recipient of U.S. FDI. U.S. investment flows to Ireland totaled $15.8 billion in the first half of this year, a 32% rise from the same period a year ago.



- On a historic cost basis, the stock of US investment in Ireland broke the $200 billion barrier for the first time in 2012. Corporate America's FDI stock in Ireland is equal to the U.S. stock in France and Germany combined. What's more, it is nearly 20% larger than the aggregate U.S. stock in the BRIC nations.



- Exports figure only nominally in Irish-U.S. linkages, but when U.S. foreign affiliate sales in Ireland are factored into the equation, a minor player in trade becomes a global strategic giant based on foreign direct investment and affiliate sales/activities.



- U.S. foreign affiliate sales in Ireland are hardly insignificant. By our estimates, U.S. affiliate sales of goods and services totaled $282 billion in 2012.



- Using actual figures-for 2010-U.S. foreign affiliate sales in Ireland-with a population of 4.5 million and a GDP of just $210 billion-were greater than affiliate sales in China ($170 billion) and Japan ($247 billion).



- Ireland now ranks the number one export platform in the world for U.S. affiliates based on the latest available data, underscoring the importance of Ireland in the global value chains of U.S. firms.

