Following the end of a three-day Enterprise Ireland-led trade mission to France, Irish companies, especially around agri-technology and clean tech, have announced contracts and alliances with a total value of €17.6m.
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, TD, arrived back in Ireland early this morning at the end of a three-day trade mission to France.
Alliances and export contracts have been forged across a range of business sectors with contract wins, with companies in the agri-technology and clean-tech sectors featuring strongly.
The trade mission to France was part of Enterprise Ireland’s ongoing intensive programme of overseas events to help Irish companies expand their presence in export markets and in turn lead to job creation in Ireland.
The Irish Embassy in Paris assisted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the mission. Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia and IDA Ireland also participated in the mission.
Bruton this morning described the trade mission as highly successful and important for deepening Ireland’s trade and economic ties in the eurozone.
“I am very pleased that this trade mission resulted in contracts and alliances totalling almost €18m for exporting Irish companies seeking to expand their activities in the French market. Two-way trade between the two countries is running at record levels and there is a clear opportunity for further substantial growth over the coming years.”
He added that the success of the “dynamic” companies that he met on this trade mission gives him “great confidence” that Ireland can continue to build on its export performance and create a strong engine of indigenous business to drive the jobs recovery that the country needs.
Contracts from trade mission to France
Among the announcements made during the trade mission were regarding the Oldcastle, Co Meath-based tractor hitch and excavator coupler manufacturer Dromone, which secured a €9.7m contract with one of France’s largest exporter of agricultural products Massey Ferguson (Agco group) based in Beauvais, France.
Tralee, Co Kerry, company Dairymaster signed a contract with the French animal reproduction and genetics company Genes Diffusion. The initial sales will aim to deliver €3m. It’s also envisioned the collaboration will allow Dairymaster to deliver dairy equipment with the industry’s fertility management system.
Waterford-based Environmental Services company FLI Group signed a contract worth €1.3m with Séché Environnoment, one of the largest waste management companies in France, for the supply, installation and maintenance of a geosynthetic membrane solution for the main waste management site at Séché Environment in Laval, in western France. It means that eight employees from FLI International will be working on this project.
On the clean-tech side Killarney Plastics, a global supplier of composite products and technology, won business worth €1m with AJ Environnment for the installation and maintenance of micro waste water treatment systems in France.
Other significant contract and partnership announcements made during the mission include: Glennon Brothers with PBM Import; Dublin Aerospace with Europe Airpost; Interactive Services with Alstom; Samco with Cavac; LSM Engineering with Aliapur; AMCS with Coved and C&F Green Energy with Ecolia Energies.
The mission also included a visit to the Lorient production facility of French group DCNS, which has partnered with Irish tidal energy company, OpenHydro, to install four under-sea tidal turbines for French utility EDF off the coast of Brittany in 2013. The aim is for the tidal farm to become the first ever to the French national electricity grid and the largest tidal array in the world.
