BUSINESS DEALS:MAJOR DEALS between Irish agricultural companies and Chinese firms were predicted yesterday on foot of a visit to the National Ploughing Championships by a 10 Chinese buyers hosted by Enterprise Ireland.
China market adviser at Enterprise Ireland Cathy Holahan said the visitors were seeking Irish products such as machinery, feeding systems and pharmaceuticals, as well as educational facilities.
“The delegation has been very impressed at what they have seen here and we have set up contacts for them,” Ms Holahan said.
“This is a return visit following the Irish companies who visited China in June. The people who are here are consultants, dairy managers, farm managers and are seeking to link up with companies with products and services on offer to the Chinese market,” she added.
“These buyers are looking for feeding systems and machinery and anything to do with the dairy sector but they are also looking for information in the form of education for their people.
“We are expecting hundreds of students from China to come here next year to study food safety. This was started by Prof Patrick Wall some years ago when he brought over students but more will follow.”
Ms Holahan said students from China would come to Ireland to study farm management and farming systems, which would be a major boost to the economy as it had been reckoned each student generated €50,000 for the economy.
Irish exports to China have been growing rapidly, especially in the dairy sector where demand from the 1.3 billion population is rising. There has been a huge demand for infant formula there since domestic milk in China was contaminated with melamine which was being used to inflate milk protein levels.
Some children died and more than 300,000 infants were affected. The demand for imported infant formula has been growing ever since and Ireland, which already produces one-fifth of global supply, is well placed to increase exports.
Bord Bia figures issued yesterday show exports are expected to reach a record €8.9 billion this year. A combination of increased volumes and ongoing strong global dairy prices is expected to boost dairy revenues by more than 20 per cent this year to €2.8 billion.
“Much of the growth in dairy and to a lesser extent, prepared foods, beverages and beef has occurred outside of the UK market,” Bord Bia said.