Enterprise Ireland, which has joint Minister for Trade Pat Breen on a trade mission to Switzerland this week, has said that the group will focus on increasing Irish exports to Europe as its Brexit response.
The Ministers trade mission is focused on diversifying into Swiss medtech, construction and agritech markets.
Switzerland is Ireland’s 5th largest merchandising trading partner, and the trade mission aims to accelerate exports to Europe by 50% by 2020. Exports to Switzerland by Enterprise Ireland client companies increased by 8% last year to reach €330M in 2017.
Trade Mission
Yesterday, Enterprise Ireland revealed that the participating agritech companies will visit the Swiss Future Farm Research Facility to highlight the high quality of new agricultural technologies coming out of Ireland.
The Minister also addressed an audience of over 100 Swiss and Irish business leaders in Zurich on Tuesday night and attended the Swiss Irish Business Network 10th Anniversary reception in Zurich on Wednesday before returning to Dublin.
“Trade Missions such as this one, coordinated by Enterprise Ireland on behalf of the Government of Ireland, present enormous opportunities to the participating companies,” said Leo McAdams, International Sales & Partnering Manager, Enterprise Ireland.
“As our clients prepare for Brexit, supporting their diversification into new markets, particularly within the European markets, is a key priority for us. Enterprise Ireland will also bring trade missions to Spain, Germany and the Netherlands in the next 3 months as we work towards our target of delivering 60,000 new jobs and an additional €5 billion of exports by 2020.”
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
