Entrepreneurs on a mission to Brazil

MORE than 50 Irish entrepreneurs will set off on a five-day trade mission to Brazil this weekend.

The group includes finalists in this year’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition as well as past finalists. The trip is being organised with the support of Enterprise Ireland, InterTrade-Ireland and Invest NI.

The entrepreneurs will visit Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and will take part in one-to-one meetings with local companies, aimed at identifying business opportunities in the world’s tenth largest economy with a market of 184 million people.

They’ll also have strategy meetings with local enterprise agencies and meet representatives of Irish companies already trading in South America, including Malcolm Shiels of Kerry Group Brazil.

Partner in charge of the Entrepreneur of the Year competition at Ernst & Young, Enda Kelly said: “This element of the programme – what we call the CEO Retreat – is one of the most challenging for our finalists every year.

“This year the theme of the Retreat is ‘replicate your business in an emerging market’, and Brazil, with an annual GDP of more than a trillion dollars and substantial oil reserves, offers opportunities which would be extremely difficult to match anywhere else in the world.”