CNN 2011-12-22

 If first impressions are indeed last impressions,Dublin has a reason to be confident.With a spacious 1 interior and space age design,Dublin airport's terminal 2 is the city's calling card.At a cost of 600 million euros,T2 wasn't cheap but some believe the airport's makeover has helped change how Dublin is perceived.Impression we were creating in the country.Poor infrastructure 2 facility,this was not a gateway 3.Companies would want to,you know,come into a country,to invest in a country.What T2 has done has completely and radically 4 changed that.The opening of T2 has been a massive_for next generation of foreign direct investment.The hope isT2 will help Dublin land new business and soon the airport itself could be the site of major investment.Dublin's airport authority owns nearly 3000 acres of lands most of which is not in use,a rare commodity.Airport and city hope to transform this area into a business district,specifically for clean technology companies.It would be part of a greenway-an economic corridor of green business linking the city centre with the airports.The greenway is all about jobs and economic regeneration.We are trying as a nation to_our country in an economic fortune way from some of the_and_towards these hi-tech areas.We would expect to see the next googles,the next Twitters in the clean techspace coming from east Asia and setting up European Headquarter operations in and around Dublin airport.For multinationals 5,organized around timezones,connectivity is a big factor.Dublin airport has a lot going for it.For one,it's the only capital city in Europe with border free clearance 6 for the US.Going through US immigration here at T2 means avoiding the long queues on the other side of the Atlantic,a big selling point when time is money.Another big plus:the land set aside for the business district is extremely close to the terminal.We can base those_right on the compass.So,when they went to go out and spread the word,when they want to go out and actually take hold of this commercial opportunity in rest of Europe,it's just moments away from the check-in terminal,and the way you go.Finding the funding to make the project a reality is the biggest hurdle,but Dublin is taking bold steps._events like the global clean tech cluster awards held in Dublin this year bring together biggest industry names.It's a chance for Dublin to raise a glass to possible investors 7 and raise interest in the greenway._is the man with the task of_big names.When the multinationals come and visit here,many of them may not be too familiar with Ireland,it's now what's happening in the clean techspace and we've alreadly seen some of the world's biggest corporations like IBM and the United Technologies invest here.IBM's decision to open one of the eleven centres around the world in Dublin was a big success for the city.This cutting edge research and development site aims to make cities more efficient.Having Dublin as a home bringing in other green tech companies is fantastic,because cooperation is huge,is great to be able to bring different ideas together_.Dublin is creating a new pillar to stablize the economy.The airport is at the heart of the city's plans.While investments are hard to come by in times of economic turbulence,Dublin is confident its planes will take off.With a futuristic new terminal and acres of land for developments,the sky delimits for Dublin airports.