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Minister Breen leads Enterprise Ireland Trade Visit to Arab Health, Dubai

Irish healthcare companies exhibit at largest event of its kind in the MENA region

Pat Breen TD Minister for Employment and Small Business is leading an Enterprise Ireland trade visit to Arab Health in Dubai, the largest healthcare exhibition and conference in the MENA region, today, Monday January 30th 2017. The trade visit focuses on maximising business opportunities for the 20 Enterprise Ireland Irish client companies attending the healthcare exhibition and conference which is expected to surpass the 2016 attendance levels of 4,000 exhibitors and over 130,000 visitors from 163 countries. 

Minister Breen will participate in a number of engagements to build on the strong relationship Enterprise Ireland has with healthcare institutions and government bodies in the UAE including; Neuro Spinal Hospital, the Dubai Health Authority, Abu Dhabi Health Services, and VPS Healthcare Group - a healthcare provider with a network of hospitals, medical centres, pharmaceutical manufacturing and pharmacy retailers globally.   

Speaking on his arrival at Arab Health Minister Breen said; “The United Arab Emirates presents growth opportunities for Irish companies and is already a significant consumer of Irish goods. In 2015 Enterprise Ireland client company exports to the UAE were in excess of €124M. By providing a platform for Irish companies to present their solutions and network with leading healthcare professionals, Arab Health is an ideal opportunity to position Ireland as a source of world-class high tech products and solutions for the UAE healthcare sector. I look forward to meeting with representatives from the UAE authorities and industry to promote Irish innovative healthcare solutions over the coming days.” 

The exhibition has become a strategically important event for established companies in the region to build on existing market presence as well as for smaller companies and high-potential start-ups, providing them with a holistic overview of the opportunities and market environment in the region and access to key players and potential partners. 

Enterprise Ireland will host a stand for 20 client companies at Arab Health 2017 - 12 clients exhibiting and the remainder attending the conference. Amongst the Irish exhibits will be; drug delivery systems, medical devices, digital health technologies and pharmaceutical products. 

The client companies exhibiting on the Enterprise Ireland stand are: Aerogen, AmRay Medical, CF Pharma Ireland Ltd., Crospon,Fleming Medical Ltd., IPC Polymers, Kastus Technologies, Locatible, Miravex Ltd.,Novaerus, Sedana Medical Ltd., Synchrophi Systems Ltd. and 3D4 Medical. 

Tom Kelly, Divisional Manager of Lifesciences at Enterprise Ireland said; ’Ireland has over 250 highly innovative life sciences companies designing, developing and manufacturing healthcare products and services which Enterprise Ireland sees a demand for in this region. We are keen to use Arab Health as an opportunity to promote Ireland to potential healthcare buyers and invite them to attend MedinIreland - Ireland’s largest medtech event - in October 2017.  Supporting our client companies to identify new markets for their products and services is part of Enterprise Ireland’s strategy to enable our clients to build scale and expand global reach as part of our response to the UK’s decision to leave the EU”. 

For further information contact Press Office, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Phone: 01- 6312200; email: press.office@djei.ie 

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