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Welcoming participants to this years IMW today, Minister Leo Varadkar TD noted the growing confidence by Irish exporters in Ireland’s economic recovery as shown by a recent survey by Enterprise Ireland.

Despite the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, more than half of exporting businesses here have seen their exports increase this year compared to last year . 91% expect to see their sales rise again next year.The key growth markets identified by client​ companies are North America, Europe and the UK.

The survey was carried out ahead of Enterprise Ireland’s International Markets, which will see over 700 companies meet virtually with 140 market advisors from 40 overseas offices, during over 1600 individual meetings over five days.

Speaking at the event, Leo Clancy, CEO of Enterprise Ireland said;

“It is really encouraging to see our research pointing to business optimism and this is testament to the resilience and performance of Irish exporters despite Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.

“So far in 2021, we have seen these companies win a total of 965 new contracts and establish 375 new overseas presences against that backdrop of what are still difficult trading conditions.”

“With global recovery, there are significant opportunities for Irish companies to accelerate their growth internationally and International Markets Week will play a critical role in driving this agenda.”

During a Q&A  with Richard Curran, Minister Varadkar noted that Brexit issues will be with us for well into the future, as will cost and competitiveness challenges. He expressed confidence that energy supply problems should be alleviated with the reopening of two natural gas plants later this month.He supported EI’s focus on EU, UK GCC and North American markets , noting recent and forthcoming Trade Missions to those markets.

Photo: Left to right, Leo Clancy , Xavier Piechaczyk, Minister Leo Varadkar, Mark Foley, Ambassador Patricia O Brien 

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar led Enterprise Ireland’s trade mission to France on Tuesday, 7th September. The trade mission to Paris supported the accelerated export-led recovery of Irish businesses in the Eurozone.

This was the first in-person trade mission undertaken by Enterprise Ireland following the onset of Covid-19.

Meetings took place with Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE) and EirGrid, partners in the Celtic Interconnector project and with representatives from Le Grand Paris project, the largest transport and infrastructure project in Europe focused on mobility, sustainability and urban development in the Ile de France region.

Tánaiste also met with a number of IDA Ireland existing and target client companies during the mission from the financial, telecommunications, insurance and e-commerce sectors. Leo Clancy CEO of Enterprise Ireland,  Mary Buckley Director of the Industrial Development  Authority and Mark Foley CEO of Eirgrid were among the delegation.

Sean Finlay, Director of Geoscience Ireland(GI), accompanied the delegation on the trip to Paris. GI company GDGEO was also represented by Richard Pike and Louis Laposture.

The 575km Celtic Interconnector is an important part of Ireland’s climate action policies. It will provide reliable back up power to a national grid increasingly using renewable energy. Final consents for the project are expected in Q3 2022. Construction is planned for 2024 with transmission staring in early 2027. Geological Survey Ireland through its Infomar programme has previously provided vital bathymetric data for the project. Other Irish companies attending were Suir Engineering and Techworks Marine.

The SGP Paris Metro is a €35Bn project involving the building of 200km of new metro lines of which 180km are underground. About 60km have already been completed. Reuse and recycling of materials derived from tunnelling is a major challenge. The target is to reuse 70% ; at present 47% is being reused. GI continues to engage with SGP on this and  on geotechnical issues. Companies with Irish connections involved in the SGP project are Ecocem, Eqiom and Cubis.

Another project introduced was HAROPA, a unified port development authority for La Harve and the Seine.

Commenting on the event, Sean Finlay said

“The Trade Mission to Paris was a very welcome return to the all-important face to face engagements which are an integral and vital part of winning international business. Enterprise Ireland confirmed its ability to broker high level contacts with three very important French infrastructure projects form which Ireland can benefit, contribute and learn”.

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