A team of leading companies and officials from Ireland is currently visiting Saudi Arabia and the UAE looking for business opportunities as part of the Enterprise Ireland's Trade Mission to the Middle East.

The team is led by Charlie Flanagan TD, Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. It visited Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 12 and 13, and will be at Abu Dhabi on November 14 and Dubai on November 15 to meet senior government ministers and to facilitate talks with a wide range of local businesses and participating Irish companies, as well as announcing a number of new contract wins and partnership agreements, said a statement.

The 37 Irish companies are taking part in the trade mission, span a number of key sectors including education, healthcare, digital media, ICT and telecoms, financial services, aviation and agri-technology, it said.

The visit is organised by Enterprise Ireland Middle East, the regional arm of the Irish government organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets, it added.

The visit comes as Ireland continues to strengthen industry links with the region.
Exports of Enterprise Ireland backed companies to the GCC member states increased by 12 per cent in 2015 to over €507 million ($550 million) with further strong gains projected this year.

Flanagan said: "I am delighted to be here with such a wide range of innovative Irish companies who are forging successful partnerships with prominent entities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”

“The Middle East is a very important region for us and there are significant opportunities for even more Irish companies to do business here in the future,” he added.

Joe Breslin, regional director, South Europe, Middle East, Africa and India at Enterprise Ireland, said: "We are very pleased with the progress so many leading Irish companies are making throughout the GCC.”

“The region is full of opportunities and local businesses definitely recognise the value of Irish expertise and innovation across a wide range of sectors, resulting in an impressive number of fruitful partnerships. We expect to see more of these successful collaborations in the near future,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service