merrion street

“The performance of our exporting industries, both indigenous and multinational, has been the major driver of our economic growth”, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan, T.D., told an audience of Irish and Austrian businesspeople this morning.

Speaking at the Irish Austrian Business Forum, to an audience including Austrian President Heinz Fischer, the Minister said that our international reputation has been rebuilt through the hard work of our Embassy network and the State Agencies, which included helping exporters to grow new markets for their goods and services. Austria is one such example, where trade in goods and services increased to €1.49 billion in 2013.

Minister Flanagan said:
“Export levels are at an all-time high, significantly higher than the pre-crisis peak reached in 2007. Net exports grew by 13 percent in the second quarter of 2014 compared with the same period in 2013. The Government is determined to increase the number of Irish firms doing business in Austria, where our total trade last year was valued at nearly €1.5 billion. Enterprise Ireland has 250 client companies in Austria and my Department and our Embassy in Vienna are working to increase that number.”

“The performance of our export industries has been a major driver of economic growth in Ireland and exports to Austria increased almost 14% last year, particularly in the field of pharmaceuticals, essential oils, chemical materials, office machinery and manufactured articles. I hope to see more companies looking to Austria as a potential market for their products.”

The Minister added:
“Our indigenous Irish exporting companies and start-ups, have proven themselves to be among the most dynamic and innovative in the world. Many of these companies are now reaching new markets with high-quality products and have benefitted from significant improvements in competitiveness in the Irish economy.”