TRADE MISSION:DEALS FOR export sales worth more than €9.2 million were signed by Irish firms during this week's trade mission in Russia, Minister for Trade and Commerce, Billy Kelleher said yesterday.
He led 30 Irish firms on the trip which was organised by job creation agency Enterprise Ireland to coincide with a State visit by President Mary McAleese.
The firms were from a range of sectors including engineering, construction, food and drink, education, business services and information communications technology.
High-tech firms Digisoft, Adaptive Mobile, OpenJaw and Norkom Technologies were among those to announce new sales deals. Adaptive Mobile chief executive Brian Collins said their deal with Russian telecoms giant Vimplecom had serious potential because of the size of the Russian market.
“Vimplecom have 55 million subscribers,” he said. “There’s no recession here.”
TCD and DIT also announced partnership agreements with higher education institutions in Russia. Trinity College Dublin is planning to open a Russian cultural centre in Ireland with Dublin City Public Libraries, Dublin City Council and Russian World Foundation. It would provide a Russian-language resource centre, language classes and a cultural outreach programme for the general public. The university is also involved in the introduction of a biennial publication of a journal to showcase contemporary Irish literature in translation into Russian. It is also planning an annual fellowship in literary translation for a Russian citizen.
Enterprise Ireland chief executive Frank Ryan said Russia was Europe’s largest emerging market and the success of this mission showed that Irish products and services were well matched to Russian market demands.
“Over the coming months, we will build on the achievements of this week and grow Irish exports to Russia,” he said.
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