Vietnam is expected to be the fastest-growing destination for Irish exporters in the next decade — closely followed by China, India and Malaysia — as companies continue to look east to boost trade levels, a new survey has found.

It is unusual to see Molly Malone push her barrow in Beijing, instead of Dublin. But there she is in the capital city of China.

Ireland has surged to the top of the European pile in terms of confidence among its exporting firms, on the back of strong growth in key markets.

BUSINESSES are being offered the chance to get invaluable advice from industry chiefs at the Cork Chamber’s annual conference later this month.

BANKING giant HSBC, which employs 700 people in Ireland, said its corporate banking business here had a good year in 2007 with revenues up 40%.