17th December 2015
The Minister of State for Skills, Research & Innovation, Damien English, T.D. welcomed the positive conclusion to the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) negotiations at the 10th World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
Yesterday’s announcement is something that benefits Ireland’s consumers, businesses from lower priced IT goods. Ireland’s large technological sector is world renowned, with nine of the world’s top ten companies located here. The industry employs over 37,000 people and generates €35 billion in exports annually. This expanded agreement will allow these companies to become more competitive due to the duty-free treatment of over 200 high-tech products. The free trade deal will eliminate tariffs on 90% of trade in these goods which makes it the biggest tariff-cutting deal in the WTO in almost two decades. It has an annual trade value of €1.2 trillion, accounting for approximately 10% of global trade.
The EU along with 23 other WTO members are committing to the deal but all members will benefit from it.
Welcoming the deal, Minister English said:
“This is excellent news for Irish business and consumers which will lead to an increase in Irish IT exports, but also has the potential to provide lower prices for consumers”.
ENDS
For more information contact:
Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation, Press Office - 01 631 2200 or press.office@djei.ie
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