New Minister For Jobs, Enterprise And Innovation Begins Two-Day Irish Trade Mission

The new Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, has begun a two-day trade and investment mission to Athlone, Sligo and Limerick organised by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland as part of their joint 'Global Sourcing' initiative.

It is understood that the focus of the internal trade mission is to highlight the strong links that already exist between multinational companies (MNCs) and their Irish supplier base, while also introducing innovative Irish SMEs to the global multinational base in Ireland.

Over two days and three locations, networking events, panel discussions and 356 one-to-one meetings will take place between 180 Enterprise Ireland clients and 64 IDA clients.

Speaking from Athlone at the start of the trade mission Minister O'Connor said: "I am very much looking forward to the next two days and my first trade mission. I am glad that this is taking place in Ireland as I am very much focussed on ensuring all regions achieve their economic potential and benefit from job creation, and through our regional action plan for jobs we will achieve this. Ireland is a world-class location for overseas companies and we have a thriving global multinational base here.

"Regionally based Irish companies are successfully exporting their products and services globally, and are well positioned to service these companies. There are tangible opportunities for SME's and multinational companies through mutually beneficial collaboration and partnerships.

"My objective and a key objective for Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland is to translate the introductions made over the next two days into business opportunities that will lead to contract wins and increased employment in regional locations such as Limerick, Athlone and Sligo".

Julie Sinnamon, CEO Enterprise Ireland, also said: "A key objective for Enterprise Ireland is to grow more Irish businesses of scale. Irish companies are winning market share overseas, creating jobs in every region in Ireland. Increasingly Irish based MNCs are recognising Irish companies as a resource that can add real value to their operations. Through the Global Sourcing initiative we are seeing real traction between Irish SMEs and foreign-owned multinationals based here. To date 21 new contract wins have been secured with an estimated value of €10.5m. We will continue to push hard to increase the number of Irish SMEs supplying the MNC base in Ireland, creating more jobs in every region in Ireland". 

(MH/LM)