Enterprise Ireland, the Irish government's trade development organization is setting up its regional office in Dubai to further strengthen trade and economic relations with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
“Our main objective is to develop relationships with the UAE business community and introduce them to world-class Irish companies to develop long-term and mutually profitable relationships,” said Regional Director, Enterprise of Ireland Nicholas Marmion. “The establishment of a regional office in Dubai will facilitate access for UAE companies to a large and renowned pool of Irish companies who do business in global markets.”
Trade between Ireland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has grown significantly over the past few years with total trade in 2001 valued at $250 million, the key areas of trade being food products, industrial machinery, information and communication technology equipment and oil.
In fact, UAE is the second largest GCC market for Ireland with exports reaching $199.98 million in 2001 – displaying a dramatic surge from 1997 when exports were valued at $96.96 million.
“The immediate focus for Enterprise Ireland will be to introduce the UAE to Irish companies involved in financial and mobile telecoms software, e-learning, process control and instrumentation, higher education and aerospace, among others,” added Marmion.
In addition to leveraging business opportunities and partnerships between companies in Ireland and the UAE, Enterprise Ireland will be involved in a number of key activities throughout 2003. These include an Irish trade mission led by the Irish Minister for International Trade throughout the GCC region; conducting exchange visits for buyer groups from both Ireland and GCC countries; participation at Gitex 2003 and hosting GCC business experts in Ireland to showcase opportunities in the region, particularly in the areas of financial software and mobile telecommunications.
Enterprise Ireland is the government organization charged with assisting the development of Irish enterprise. Enterprise Ireland has operated in the Gulf region since the early 80s, having had an office at various times in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, before finally establishing a permanent presence in 1988 as the Irish Embassy Commercial Section first in Jeddah and then in Riyadh. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
