Trade links forged with new EU countries

New trade links were forged today between Dublin and the capital cities of the 10 new EU member states.

Mayors and business groups from capital cities in Malta, Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic and Cyprus signed a protocol of friendship with Dublin to promote economic, social and cultural ties.

The four-day ‘Building Bridges through Capital Cities’ event was organised by Dublin City Development Board (DCDB), Dublin City Council, European Information Centre and the European Commission.

The conference aims to encourage two-way trade between the 10 new states and Ireland.

Several Irish companies have already built up close business ties with the new EU states, which joined the 15-member bloc on May 1, 2004.

Although two-thirds of Irish exports went to the existing 15 EU countries, only 1% go to the 10 new states, which have a combined population of 75m.

DCDB director Peter Finnegan urged Irish firms to exploit new trade opportunities with the 10 countries or they could lose out.

“If Irish companies are not proactive, they will miss out and these markets will be closed to us in the long-term,” he said.

Addressing today’s conference, Trade Minister Michael Ahern explained to representatives from the new member states how the EU helped Ireland develop from a closed agricultural country into a competitive economic force today.

“We have an extremely open economy, with high levels of investment, exports and also imports, both consumer goods and industrial products,” he said.

“We are also anxious to ensure that our new EU partners are able to take advantage of the opportunities in Ireland.

“The key to the EU’s future is to harness the strengths which we have in different areas and I encourage you all to examine the potential of Ireland for your companies.”

According to the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Irish firms already have a growing business presence in the 10 new states.

These include Grafton Recruitment, AIB, CRH, Siebel Systems, O’Brien Textiles, M&M Qualtech electronics and Duolog Technologies.

Cavan-based building supplies firm Kingspan will open a new facility near Budapest this month.

Irish software companies are also active in the mobile telecoms and banking sectors in the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,

Irish companies have recently invested in the food industry, IT and financial services in the Czech Republic,

Six Irish companies have opened operations in our biggest trading partner, Poland this year. Total investment there has now reached around €1.5bn.