THIRTY-FOUR Irish firms have completed a trade mission to Brazil. The mission began last Sunday and was organised by Enterprise Ireland.

The Brazilian market is relatively untapped by Irish companies compared to other locations that have received trade missions, according to Kevin Sherry, Enterprise Ireland’s head of international sales and partnering.

“But it’s a market we believe is going to be substantial for Irish firms,” said Mr Sherry.

During the trip, a bilateral agreement to co-operate in education and research was signed between the governments of Brazil and Ireland. It is expected the agreement will see an increase in the number of Brazilian students coming to Ireland for undergraduate and graduate studies as well as increasing the number of research partnerships between Irish and Brazilian educational institutions.

More than 6,000 Brazilian students studied English in Ireland last year, up 60 per cent since 2006.

Louth company Suretank announced it had won a €900,000 contract to supply cargo-carrying units to IWES, a supplier of tanks and containers to the exploration industry. The units will be used offshore on a Statoil drilling project.

Web Reservations International (WRI) signed a three-year contract deal for its Hostelworld.com brand with Despegar.com, one of the biggest online travel agencies in Latin America. WRI has seen a 30 per cent growth in bookings in the region this year and will shortly launch a Brazilian Portuguese version of Hostelworld.com.

Instant UpRight, a Dublin manufacturer of aluminium tower system, completed a deal with Mills of Brazil, a specialist engineering services companies. Instant UpRight expects to supply more than 12 units, worth €2 million, over the next three years.

The trade mission was led by Minister of State for Trade and Commerce Billy Kelleher. Minister for Enterprise Batt O’Keeffe cancelled his trip when the economic crisis intensified.