14th March 2015
Visit includes 12 trade/investment meetings involving over 100 companies
Number of trade missions has doubled, as part of plan which has delivered 40,000 extra jobs in export companies in past 4 years
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD today (Saturday) departs to commence a 4-day “Promote Ireland” St Patrick’s Day mission to France.
The mission to Paris includes:
· 12 trade/investment meetings and events involving over 100 companies, organised by IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia and Tourism Ireland as well as the Irish Embassy
· 4 political meetings and events, including a one-on-one meeting with the new French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron
· 5 cultural events, including the greening of Sacre Coeur Basilica in Montmartre
· A media programme aimed at communicating Ireland’s recovery story, including a round-table briefing attended by 10 leading French and international media outlets
Speaking before departing today, Minister Bruton said:
“Exports have been at the heart of our jobs plan since the day we took office, and we have put in place a range of measures to deliver on that including extra staff for agencies in overseas markets and tax incentives to help exporting companies locate their own staff in foreign countries. As I have said repeatedly, we have been determined to build an economy based on exports and innovation, avoiding the failed model based on property and debt which collapsed so spectacularly. In the past four years we have seen exports hit record levels, and an extra 40,000 jobs have been added in exporting companies over that period.
“Ministerial-led trade missions have been a key part of this plan, and we have doubled them in number since taking office. That is because they have a real impact in convincing multinational companies to locate jobs in Ireland, and in facilitating Irish companies to grow their sales and ultimately growing employment back home.
“France is a hugely important partner for Ireland. It is our sixth largest market for goods exports and our 5th largest for services exports, with a total of nearly €10billion in total exports going from Ireland to France each year. Furthermore, 54 French companies employ a total of more than 5,000 people in Ireland. I look forward to further concrete benefits in terms of jobs for Ireland resulting from missions to this crucial market this year”.
ENDS
For further information:
Press Office, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation 01- 6312200 or press.office@djei.ie
NOTES TO EDITORS
France is Ireland's:
· 3rd largest market for Irish indigenous company exports
· 2nd largest export market for food & drinks and largest market for seafood and lamb
· 4th largest source of inward investment by number of countries
· 4th largest tourism market
Extracts from Minister’s programme:
Saturday 14 March
18.00 Minister arrives at CDG airport, greeted by Ambassador Byrne Nason
Sunday 15 March
11.00 St Patrick’s Day Mass at the Basilica of Sacré Coeur
16.15 Irish Community Mass St Etienne du Mont
17.15 Community reception at the Centre Culturel Irlandais
19.00 Greening of the Sacré Coeur with Representative of City of Paris& Mayor of 18th District, M. Eric Lejoindre
Monday 16 March
09.30 Visit to EI client company, ICON
11.00 Meeting IDA client company, technology sector
13.00 French media lunch in the Embassy, attended by Wall Street Journal Dow Jones, Le Monde, Bloomberg, Reuters, La Tribune, Les Echos L’Opinion, Libération, Le Figaro, La Croix
16.45 Enterprise Ireland contract signing ceremonies, Embassy
18.00 Embassy St. Patrick’s Day Reception
Tuesday 17 March
08.00 Breakfast meeting with IDA client company, financial services sector
10.00 – 11.00 Participation at meeting of EU Education Ministers re recent terrorist attacks
11.45 Bord Bia lunch with food media and some members of Chef’s Irish Beef Club, aimed at promoting Irish beef in France
13.00 IDA hosted lunch attended by representatives of 15 multinational companiesacross a diverse range of industry sectors (Financial Services, Technology, Business Services, Engineering and Emerging Business).
14.45 Media interview
15.30 Meeting with Credit Agricole Bank at LeVillage (high-tech incubator, 60 startups) organised by Enterprise Ireland
16.30 Meeting with Agency staff
18.00 Meeting with IDA company
19.30 Meeting with Minister for the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs, Emmanuel Macron
Wednesday 18 March
8.00-9.30 Breakfast seminar at Embassy with the Institut d’Entreprise (attended by 50-60 people from French business, media and politics)
10.30 Meeting with members of the Franco-Irish Parliamentary Group, Assemblée Nationale
13.00 Lunch hosted by Network Irlande
15.30 Visit City Hall Design Incubator
17.00 Tour of Centre Culturel Irlandais
18.00 Visit Tourism Ireland event, Soirée a l’Irlande
21.30 Depart Paris CDG for Dublin
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