Dubai Marina at dusk

This week 63 Irish companies are taking part in a five-day Enterprise Ireland organised trade and investment mission to the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton leads the mission before continuing to India for a four-day investment mission with the IDA.

Seven cities will be covered – Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Doha, New Delhi and Mumbai while 37 meetings will go ahead with the aim of increasing Irish exports.

The mission to the Gulf follows a highly successful trade mission to the region in 2014 led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister Bruton, and aims to develop leads and contacts made on that mission, help Irish companies finalise deals with local partners and ultimately create more jobs in Ireland.

Speaking before departing, Minister Bruton said:

“At the heart of our jobs plan is supporting more exports, from both Irish and multinational companies. We have put in place a range of measures to deliver on this, including doubling the number of trade missions, placing extra staff for Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in overseas markets and tax incentives for firms to place more staff overseas to help win sales. In the past four years these measures have delivered real results, with 40,000 extra people at work in exporting companies over that time.

“A key focus of these measures are high-growth emerging markets like India and the Gulf region which are the target of this mission. I have visited both of these markets on several occasions since taking office, and what is clear is that there are real opportunities here, both for Irish exporting companies to win export sales, and for Ireland to attract multinational companies. What is also clear is that consistent, sustained work is needed in order to take advantage of these opportunities.

“This trade mission is a key part of that plan, and I am confident that it will result in concrete results, in the form of extra sales for Irish companies and new investments in Ireland from multinational companies, over the coming weeks and months”.

Please visit Enterprise Irelands website for more details on the Gulf trade mission and the company announcements: www.enterprise-ireland.com/trademission

To highlight the export opportunities for Irish companies in the Gulf region Enterprise Ireland has produced an infographic which you might find interesting:

Click on image to enlarge