Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan is today concluding a four-day Enterprise Ireland trade mission to South Africa. 

So far, contracts worth over €12 million for Irish companies are among the initial results of the trade mission to South Africa.

Furthermore, dozens of leads for Irish exporting companies have been created or progressed during the 4-day mission in which 34 Irish companies from all over Ireland participated in over 200 one-to-one meetings with South African companies targeting export opportunities across the technology, telecommunications, aviation, engineering, energy, food and financial services sectors.

Among the highlights of the trip were the partnership agreements between College Ireland Aviation Services (CIAS) and Mega Aviation Training Academy (MATA), Johannesburg, for the delivery of aviation training and academic programmes in Southern Africa, and between AuBren DAQS and Voltas Technologies, to introduce AuBren’s special brand of precision air handling systems to Africa. The latter is understood to have a value of €3m to €5m over the next four years and should see Portlaoise-based AuBren increase its international staffing by fifty per cent.

Minister Flanagan said, "I have been particularly struck by the energy, enthusiasm and innovation of the Irish companies participating in this trade mission, and the positive reception they have received here in South Africa. 

This is testament to the high level of preparation of the companies themselves, their strong networking abilities and the firm groundwork laid by the Embassy of Ireland, Pretoria and Enterprise Ireland over many years. We see South Africa as the gateway to sub Saharan Africa and this trade mission has showcased Ireland as the gateway to the EU market of 500 million consumers."

Source: www.businessworld.ie