The Minister for Small Business, John Perry TD, recently launched the new Irish Chamber of Commerce in Central Europe, i-Cham CE, at an event in Enterprise Ireland’s offices in East Point Business Park, Dublin 3. Supported by Enterprise Ireland, i-Cham CE has the backing of the associated Embassies and its office will be based out of the Irish Exporters Association.

i-Cham CE is a new initiative which aims to bring the Irish business diasporas in Central Europe together through an integrated bi-lateral Chamber umbrella. The organisation aims to provide practical and on-the ground support to Irish SMEs who are entering or exploring these markets with the aim of increasing Irish exports and raising the profile of Irish products and services in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

i-Cham CE is supported by Enterprise Ireland as the intended scope of the organisation will complement the work of Enterprise Ireland’s offices in Warsaw and Prague, which cover the EU countries within i-Cham CE’s geographic footprint.

Enterprise Ireland’s Regional Director Conor Fahy said: “Enterprise Ireland strongly supports the establishment of i-Cham CE which will provide an additional conduit for Irish companies expanding their export footprint into Central Europe, the EU’s fastest growing region. It the past 10 years Irish exports to Central Europe have grown over 300%, and thanks to the continued “catch-up” dynamic, well-trained work force, healthy banking sector, and a combination of low public and private debt, Central European economies are expected to continue growing faster than Western Europe, generating wide ranging export opportunities for Irish companies”.