Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has announced plans for Enterprise Ireland to open an office in India in a bid to improve trade with the world's 11th-largest economy.
Speaking today at an Enterprise Ireland-sponsored lunch in Bombay, now known as Mumbai, the Taoiseach said the State agency - which supports home grown, export-oriented businesses - will open an office later this year in the city.
Mr Ahern said the office would play "a pioneering role in encouraging and facilitating access to business opportunities that will accelerate market entry and drive export growth".
He added that Enterprise Ireland had almost doubled its client base from 30 to 60 companies over the last five years.
Mr Ahern is heading a 150-strong trade mission to India and is accompanied on the trip by Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin, Education & Science Minister Mary Hanafin and Sports, Arts and Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue.
The Irish delegation includes 80 firms drawn from a range of sectors, including biotech, education, tourism, culture and the arts.
The Taoiseach highlighted the similarities between Ireland and India's positioning in the software industry. He said both countries had become "significant players in the evolution of the Information Society" and emphasised that India has been designated as one of the key targets for the Republic's "Asia strategy."
Enterprise Ireland has a target of increasing new export sales from Irish-founded businesses to €3 billion a year over the next three years.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/e1807905-8678-47b5-a915-2bc7f91a5bbd.png)