1st April 2008: The Minister for Innovation Policy Mr Michael Ahern T.D. is this week leading an Enterprise Ireland trade mission of 29 Irish companies, from a wide range of sectors, to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It follows on last year's Taoiseach-led mission to the Gulf Region - the biggest Irish overseas trade mission ever.

Participating companies come from several sectors including telecoms, engineering, automotive, risk management, education, project management, tourism and leisure and other sectors.

Speaking from Riyadh, Minister Ahern said:
"Trade between Ireland and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been growing steadily in recent years and Irish companies continue to flourish in Saudi Arabia. The most recent figures, for the year to November 2007, show that Irish companies increased their sales in Saudi Arabia by almost 12% to €345 million. Irish-owned SMEs have been the leaders in sales growth, achieving average year-on-year sales increases of 20% plus.

"Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates represents the fastest growing market for Irish companies in the Gulf region. Total Irish exports have more than doubled in the past four years and there are now more than 100 Irish companies that export to the UAE.

"Irish companies have been successful in winning business in a number of key sectors such as information technology and telecoms software; healthcare and pharmaceuticals; third level education services; utilities, power and construction industries; and in eLearning and e-Government applications.

"Selling to the Saudi Arabian and UAE markets requires a long-term perspective. More Irish companies are establishing their market presence in Saudi Arabia and Dubai through strategic alliances, technology collaboration and other forms of partnerships with local companies and institutions and thereby create strong relationships."

"We look forward, as a further strengthening of these links, to the visit to Ireland later this year of HRH Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. We also welcome the decision of Saudi Arabia to open an Embassy in Dublin this year."

The trade mission will also include a strong education focus with a number of participants from Irish third-level education institutions. For many years, hundreds of students from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Region have come to Ireland to study. Recently, Irish institutions received over one hundred King Abdullah Scholarship Programme (KASP) students for postgraduate courses. By 2010, it is expected that over 1,000 KASP students from the programme will have passed through Irish education institutions.

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For more information please contact:

Ciara O'mahony Press Office, Enterprise Ireland tel: 01 808 2284