Companies supported by Enterprise Ireland had a successful 2000 with exports and job creation increasing substantially. But economic slowdown in the US will make things more difficult this year.

Presenting its annual report yesterday, Enterprise Ireland's chief executive said companies were focusing on expanding exports into Europe to offset the US downturn, with the single currency also offering new opportunities for Irish companies.

Mr Dan Flinter added: "We need to positively exploit advantages of the single currency as North American markets are becoming more difficult, particularly for companies operating in the high-technology sector."

Enterprise Ireland's client companies, which are Irish-owned, reported a 14.5 per cent rise in exports last year to #11 billion (£8.66 billion).

Software exports drove much of that performance, increasing by 36 per cent during that period. Total client sales were #23.7 billion, an increase of 12.1 per cent on 1999.

Job creation among indigenous firms was also ahead, with net jobs increasing by 6,728 to 146,431 in 2000.

Enterprise Ireland's portfolio of investments in these firms made handsome gains, yielding #101.58 million.

The global slump in high-tech and telecoms stocks has hit this year's performance. At the beginning of January, Mr Flinter said the portfolio was valued at £160 million but this has since dropped to around £60 million. Mr Flinter said last year's strong performance reflected the commitment of its client companies to increasingly internationalise their businesses, particularly in the knowledge-based, high-tech sectors, which were consistently the top export growth performers.

This year will be more difficult for the indigenous sector, as the US slowdown is affecting exports, and this is also having an impact on the availability of venture capital to these companies. Mr Flinter said funding for the high-tech sector was becoming more expensive where investments were being made.

Enterprise Ireland supported 57 new companies with high export growth potential last year, with around eight outside Dublin. Mr Flinter said there was encouraging evidence of an emerging trend in technology start-ups outside the capital, with a flow of new enterprise projects in Cork, Galway, Sligo, Donegal and Waterford.

The full text of the Enterprise Ireland Annual Report 2000 is available on The Irish Times website at: www.ireland.com