Minister Richmond leads trade visit to key aerospace and healthcare industry fairs in Germany

• 13 Enterprise Ireland clients exhibit at AIX airline and aviation trade fair
• Aerospace sector contributes €4.1bn to the Irish Economy
• Minister attends National Conference on Health Economy 2023 in Rostock
• Enterprise Ireland client company, Amnexis receive €5,000 award and present to ‘Start-Up Arena’ at Rostock

Minister of State for Employment Affairs and Retail Business, Neale Richmond is leading a visit to aerospace and healthcare industry trade fairs in Germany to promote sustainable export relations and collaboration between leading Irish and international companies in both sectors.

Minister Richmond visited the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) trade fair on Tuesday, June 6th in Hamburg, Germany. AIX is an international trade-fair that brings together airlines and the aviation supply chain, with a focus on latest trends in cabin products, services and inflight entertainment.

13 Enterprise Ireland clients exhibited at AIX, seven of these are members of the Emerald Aero Group (EAG), which is a cluster of 12 Irish companies who collectively deliver precision engineering, plastics moulding, tooling, 3D printing, fabrication, surface treatment, thermoforming and multi-axis CNC to Tier 1 suppliers in the aviation industry.
The aerospace sector contributes €4.1bn to the Irish Economy and employs 42,000 people in Ireland.

The Minister also leads a visit to the 18th National Conference on Health Economy 2023 which will take place on 7th and 8th of June in Rostock Germany. The conference brings together over 600 national and international experts from medical, industry and political backgrounds to discuss the economic aspects of the health sector.

Enterprise Ireland clients in the Life Sciences sector last year posted gains in net job creation and in export growth. Employment increased in this portfolio of companies by over 10% in 2021 to over 11,000. The conference will provide Irish companies the opportunity to strengthen ties with Germany’s well-established ‘health economy’ which has over 160,000 employees and €6.5 billion gross value add.

IDA Ireland has over 100 client operations from German companies operating across Ireland, employing almost 15000 people in a diversified sectoral base such as life sciences and healthcare, engineering, software, financial services, consumer business services, and renewable energy.

Dublin-based health software company, Amnexis, which helps to free up valuable personnel time in the area of patient treatment and care documentation was awarded the Baltic Sea Region Health Innovation Award at the conference. The award ceremony and presentation of the prize took place during this evening's reception of the 18th National Conference on Health Economy. The award includes prize money of €5,000 consulting or office space voucher of up to €5,000 as well as the opportunity to present the award-winning solution in the conference “Start-Up Arena” session on June 8th.

Speaking on the trade visits, Minister Richmond said: “I’d like to acknowledge the success and resilience of Irish aerospace and healthcare companies who have shown incredible agility in managing themselves through the shifting dynamics in both industries in recent times and positioning themselves to best support global operators and manufacturers for the future. With Germany being the largest economy in Europe, and Ireland’s open economy and reputation for talent and innovation, there is significant scope to build on the well-founded and sustainable trading partnerships that already exist between the two countries. I look forward to meeting many of these Irish companies leading this global ambition and innovation.”

Manus Rooney, Director of Germany, Enterprise Ireland added: “We are delighted that such a range of Enterprise Ireland client companies are competing successfully in Germany and we look forward to the growth and collaboration opportunities that will come from attendance at these very important events in the aerospace and healthcare sectors. There are over 540 Enterprise Ireland companies actively selling into Germany across a variety of different sectors and aerospace and health remain priorities for Irish companies looking to increase exports to Germany which is our third largest market after the UK and USA.”

2022 saw an increase in overall client export figures, rising by 32% to €2,047 billion compared with 2021.

Bernard Smith, Director of Europe, IDA Ireland, added: "This trade mission showcases Ireland as a world-class business location that offers multinational companies opportunities to collaborate with domestic companies, a network of suppliers, and multiple industry-focused research centres across a variety of technologies. Ireland’s life sciences sector has a global reputation for operational and innovation excellence and is the second-largest exporter of medical devices in Europe, and the third-largest exporter of pharmaceuticals in the world. This trade mission plays an important role in deepening our relationships with German life sciences and healthcare companies in the region and promotes Ireland as an excellent location for establishing and expanding operations and for forging new collaborations and partnerships."