2.1 Trade and Investment Missions

2.1 Trade and Investment Missions

The UK’s decision to leave the EU highlighted the need for Irish companies to seek business opportunities in markets beyond the UK. While the UK is, and will remain, a major market for many Irish companies, expanding the Irish export footprint in markets beyond the UK is a key priority. In that context, our strategy is to support Irish exporters to be more innovative, competitive and market diversified.

Ministerial-led trade missions support the Government’s major drive towards market diversification. In 2019, the majority of trade missions took place to the Eurozone, North America, the Gulf States and Asia Pacific region; all of these regions represent the strongest growth opportunities for Irish companies. Their focus was on promoting the innovative capabilities and competitive offerings of Irish companies to international buyers in sectors including; Internationally traded services, Fintech, High-Tech Construction, Engineering, ICT and Life Sciences.

We began 2020 with optimism of building on the record exports achieved in 2019. However, COVID-19 delivered a huge shock to the global economy with supply chain disruption, business and travel restrictions, and changing buyers’ needs.

Travel restrictions at home and internationally, as well as the sudden curtailment of major trade events in many markets, presented a challenge to exporters.

This Department and its agencies responded quickly in adapting to remote working while still providing continuity of supports to Irish companies. Together we worked to convert the traditional person-to-person trade promotional events to become virtual events. Irish exporters increasingly sought more information about their target markets and how to respond to their changing buyers’ demands.

The organisation of the annual programme of Ministerial trade missions is an integral part of the work of the Department and its enterprise agencies - Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland – which work to develop and expand Ireland’s exports and inward investment from existing and new international markets.

Throughout 2020, Irish companies have shown remarkable resilience and the ability to adapt their business in response to the most challenging of years. EI’s in-market teams helped to assist Irish firms to find new ways of establishing and protecting business relationships and in some sectors, to pivot their business model fast thereby benefitting from new opportunities that unexpectedly arose.

Trade and investment missions are a global Ireland effort; together with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Ireland’s Embassy and Consulate network, our teams work closely together to ensure their success.

In recent years, our approach has proven to be very successful in terms of establishing Ireland’s credibility with, and gaining access to, the business community in the target markets at the appropriate level. Trade missions raise Ireland’s profile as a world-class supplier of goods and internationally tradable services and contribute to the generation of incremental sales to foreign markets. They also provide Ireland with a platform in a competitive foreign direct investment climate to encourage overseas HQ companies to invest and expand into Ireland. It can provide comfort to investment decision makers that Ireland is the right choice of location and that Ireland can offer them the business environment to make their investment a success.

Robert Troy, TD, Minister of State Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with responsibility for Trade Promotion, participated in numerous buyer-focused virtual events throughout the year, in support of Irish enterprise.

Case Study: Enterprise Ireland Virtual International Markets Week 2020

International Markets Week (IMW) is Enterprise Ireland’s largest exporter event and one of its longest running annual events; overseas-based teams return to Ireland to engage directly with clients on a one-to-one basis to review and support their overseas plans for the coming year. Clients have the opportunity to speak to market advisors from their existing markets, and to take the opportunity to get advice and support for potentially new target export markets. The week traditionally involves a Ministerial-led launch event followed by approx. 2000 individual EI-client meetings.

Enterprise Ireland senior management decided that IMW needed to move to a virtual format. Appreciating the immense undertaking required, a crossfunctional team was established to design and deliver a virtual event that would meet clients’ expectations of EI’s standard of delivery and outputs, and this from a geographically dispersed team who could not physically meet; using new technology, new processes and providing new experiences for nearly 1000 clients and 140 EI staff to collectively engage with and do business.

When IMW’s core purpose was distilled, the one-to-one client meetings with EI market advisors and Brexit consultants were prioritised. Other EI supports and services were signposted on EI website and in a digital brochure. The platform solution with the best technology fit was B2Match.com.

In March 2020 it was clear that a traditional IMW would not be possible in 2020 and it was equally clear the need for IMW had never been greater for Enterprise Ireland client companies who were challenged by the dual impact of COVID-19 and Brexit looming.

In addition, EI developed new technology to capture and track IMW Action Plans and integrate with other EI systems to support the client engagement and follow-up.

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Much time was invested in communicating and supporting all stakeholders, clients and EI staff, who all needed to understand the new IMW so that it could be successfully delivered and engaged with.

Minister Robert Troy opened an Enterprise Ireland virtual event, The Future of Digital Transformation in US Dairy. The event highlighted an increased demand for digital solutions within the US dairy sector and promoted opportunities for companies from the Irish dairy and agri-tech sector who can provide innovative technologies to US food and beverage companies, and dairy co-operatives.

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indicated that while the virtual setting allowed for constructive meetings, many missed the ‘coffee dock’ opportunity to meet for an informal chat. This feedback Ireland created a Market Intelligence Network called IMW Connect – a platform

At the launch of the Enterprise Centre Fund, An Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, T.D. and Julie Sinnamon, CEO Enterprise Ireland. The Enterprise Centre Fund is part of the government’s July Stimulus package, a €7.4bn package of measures designed to stimulate a jobs-led recovery and build economic confidence while continuing to manage the impact of COVID-19. The Enterprise Centre Fund is administered by Enterprise Ireland.