Bertie sees billions in doing business in India
They are here to make money. This is a big stakes game and the Irish group have come with a few aces up their sleeves.
Their trump card is Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and he has brought three ministers - Micheál Martin, John O’Donoghue and Mary Hanafin - as outriders to ensure the first all-Ireland trade mission to leave these shores is a success.
This a group that oozes confidence - things are going so well in the Republic that 11 delegations from Northern Ireland have responded to an open invite to join the i2i (yes i2i) trade mission organised by Enterprise Ireland.
Donal Dunne from Dunreidy Engineering is a typical member of the entourage which will sign deals worth tens of millions of euro this week.
Dunreidy, with operations in Kilkenny and Limerick, wants to expand its markets beyond Ireland. Dunreidy Engineering developed and manufactures Hycon which is a stainless steel containment-ducting system currently being used by most of the major pharmaceutical and biotech companies in cleanroom installation applications in Ireland.
Mr Dunne knows the product produced by the 100 employees working for the firm has seen off tough competition from around the world to secure prize contracts mostly in Ireland. Now he wants to expand and grow markets where many of his customers are going - India.
That’s the crux for Ireland; a major part of the motivation in going to India is to chase business and opportunities that have opted for India over Ireland. We have developed an expertise in servicing international companies who have set up here and it makes sense to follow that business wherever it goes.
Mr Dunne knows he might not get business in India this time but he is confident.
Ireland’s trade with India is small but favours the larger nation. In the first nine months of last year we bought €177.4 million from India while we sold just €97.4m to our fellow former British colony.
In contrast, over the same period we bought €536.5m worth of products from Spain and sold €2,177.8m there. Mr Ahern knows if we can sell more that half a billion worth of product to 44 million Spaniards then we can sell billions to a billion Indians.
Trade and Industry Minister Micheál Martin is very optimistic about the trade mission and delighted with the involvement of Northern Irish firms.
“It is an obvious thing to do and makes greater sense in terms of overseas trade missions that we should have cooperation between North and South in terms of profiling the island of Ireland in terms of international commerce and trade.
“I think one of the least politically sensitive ways of doing that is through trade missions of this kind where everybody benefits and it actually gives us added value,” he explained.
Mr Martin said he has had discussions with members of the Northern Ireland business community about how they can advance the business agenda separate from the political agenda.
“One of the simplest ways of doing this was through trade missions. I mean if I am in Japan with Enterprise Ireland then why shouldn’t Northern Irish companies be there as well availing of the same opportunities?” he added.
The trade mission is part of the Government’s Asia strategy, which acknowledges that India along with China will be the big powers in the region.
India is a major competitor to Ireland Inc, and its vast population, low wages and a well-educated middle and upper class will pose a major threat to Ireland’s success in attracting foreign direct investment.
