Trade mission to the Czech Republic and Poland Infographic 

44 Irish companies and organizations took part in the Enterprise Ireland Trade Mission to Poland and the Czech Republic which generated over €30 million in potential sales contacts.

This was the largest trade mission to the Central European region in over a decade and testament to the growing market opportunities for Irish companies in the region, which saw Enterprise Ireland clients exporting to Poland and Czech increases sales by 25% in 2014. Over the course of the four day trip (May 18-22) over 200 B2B introductions were generated, with facilities provided for follow-up face to face meetings.

A key element of the Polish leg of the Trade Mission was a seminar on Energy Efficiency and Remote Sensing opened by the Minister for Business and Employment Ged Nash TD. It attracted an audience of over 100 pre-selected attendees and provided a platform for Enterprise Ireland clients such a Fijowave, Cylon, Device Smart, SELC, Nualight and Wattics to present their case studies and views of the evolving market to Polish companies who are at the cutting edge of implementing such technologies in Poland.

Minister Nash also visited the Servier/Anpharm factory in Warsaw, which produces pharmaceuticals and medicines, and provided an opportunity for a number of clients to meet with plant management and progress sales of production products and services.

The highlight of the Warsaw leg of the Mission was an official dinner for the companies and their clients in the Westin Hotel as which over 110 people attended. The strength of the Polish diaspora in Ireland was also strongly on display at the dinner, with many of the Irish companies represented by Polish employees based in Ireland, a sure sign that Irish companies are more and more using in-house resources to develop their exports in the growing markets on Central Europe.

In the Czech Republic, Minister Nash witnessed signing of several contracts and agreements of Irish companies including PPI Adhesive Products, Realtime Technologies, PM Group and Bookassist with local Czech and international businesses. Realtime Technologies’ seminar for electronics industry attracted interest of over 80 technical and quality managers from around the Czech Republic.

The trade mission attracted substantial media attention on the Czech Republic, with Minister Nash being interviewed live for a major Czech national TV business program, and newspapers publishing interviews and articles about Ireland and its economic success.

Similar to Warsaw, over 100 people attended the trade dinner in Prague for Irish companies and their Czech buyers and business partners. For many Irish companies the Czech Republic serves as a gateway to central Europe and buyers from neighbouring Slovakia and Hungary used this momentum to meet their Irish suppliers. The mission demonstrated a close “Team Ireland” co-operation between Enterprise Ireland and Irish embassies and Bord Bia in Central European region with Bord Bia representatives and Irish food and drink companies joining events in both cities.

Because of large concentration of multinational companies, Central Europe is especially popular among Irish suppliers of products and services to industry. Over 60 direct flights connect Ireland with this region every week. Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia are preferred locations for Irish companies that followed their customers and invested on the continent. Proximity, European law, similar business culture and constant need of innovation and changing supply channels are attracting more and more Irish companies to this region every year.