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Business - Exporting
Trade mission wields €36m in contracts
04.11.2010
Frank Ryan led the trade mission to Saudi Arabia and the UAE with Minister O'Keeffe
The Department for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation has announced its trade mission to the Middle East this week has resulted in deals worth more than €36m to Irish companies.
Organised by Enterprise Ireland and led by Minister Batt O’Keeffe, the mission hoped to open up Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirate markets to Irish firms.
Most of the contracts won are in the construction sector (PM Group, Jones Engineering, Woodfit) but Cork-based fund administration firm Apex secured official registration for its services in Saudi Arabia, the first foreign company of its kind to do so.
Other Irish firms that won contracts include Farrelly and Mitchell, Globetech and Ardmore Equine Nutrition.
Forty-five companies took part in the trip and O’Keeffe said it was “an important boost for Ireland’s export-led economic recovery”.
The Government’s new integrated plan to promote overseas trade, tourism and investment, ‘Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy’, identifies the Gulf region as an emerging market.
Ireland’s exports to the Middle East are currently worth €385m and this week’s activities highlight that business activity can be ramped up, noted O’Keeffe.
“The deals signed this week anchor our client base in the region, helping Irish firms across a range of sectors to break new ground in high-potential markets and create jobs for Irish workers at home and abroad.”
The chief executive of Enterprise Ireland, Frank Ryan said, “The scale and breadth of contracts secured by Irish firms during this mission provides a glimpse of the scale of opportunity for Irish firms in the market.
“The contracts achieved during this week give proof to that message and we are confident that further Irish successes will continue to come out of Saudi Arabia.”