The Government hopes to export €9 billion of goods to Asia by 2009 as part of its 10-year Asian strategy, the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said yesterday.
He also reiterated the Government's continued support for the removal of the EU arms embargo on China, despite being lobbied on the issue by US lawmakers on his recent trip to Washington.
To meet its targets in the strategy, A Decade of the Asia Strategy 1999 to 2009, covering exports to eight Asian states - China, Korea, Japan, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam - it will be necessary to at least double exports to developing countries such as China and Vietnam, according to the policy.
Trade exports increased to €6 billion in 2003 from €3.6 billion in 1999 but they did not keep pace with imports from China, which reached €8.8 billion in 2003. That resulted in a trade deficit of €2.8 billion during that year.
The new strategy will place a greater emphasis on activity by indigenous firms, which increased exports to Asia by just 15 per cent between 1997 and 2003 to €321 million.
It sets a target of increasing the number of Irish firms with an office in Asia to 215 by 2009 from just 93 in 2003.
The strategy will target key industry sectors such as agriculture, seafood and tourism. It will also consider whether the State should set up an IDA Ireland office in Shanghai to help lure Chinese inward investment.
The number of Asian tourists to the Republic should rise to 150,000 by 2009, from 95,000 currently, and a three-year tourism programme is currently being developed for China. Similarly, the number of Asian students taking courses in Irish third-level colleges is forecast to treble to 17,000 by 2009, according to the document.
At the launch of the strategy, Mr Ahern said members of Congress told him they were "totally hostile" to plans by the EU to drop its embargo to China.
The US fears that sophisticated EU weaponry could be used against Taiwan, which the US has pledged to protect.
However, the EU is eager to establish strong political and economic ties with China, which has made scrapping the embargo a priority.
Mr Ahern said the Government would support an EU decision to remove the arms embargo provided that a new code of practice on human rights was signed up to by China.
But he said new legislation passed by Chinese authorities, which authorises the use of force against Taiwan if it seeks independence, could hold up the lifting of the embargo.
The EU arms embargo was imposed in 1989 and prevents the export of certain types of military and technology to China.
