merrion street

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar today began his St. Patricks Day visit to India with a number of meetings with business, aviation, education and tourism interests in New Delhi. The Minister began his visit with a briefing on prospects for trade and investment with representatives from Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and Asia-Pacific Enterprise Ireland. The Minister than met with the Indian Minister for Civil Aviation and the Joint Secretary for Civil Aviation regarding the use by Air India of Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport as its European hub. Air India is considering using Dublin for onward flights to destinations in the US.

The Minister also met today with education interests and heard that during the last two years, a number of Irish higher education institutes have formed important collaborative research partnerships with their counterparts in India and there has been significant interest in research, development and innovation and educational exchange.

Speaking today, Minister Varadkar said:“India is the second fastest-growing major economy in the world. It has been growing at 6-9% per year for the past fifteen years and offers many opportunities for joint co-operation, particularly in relation to trade, industry, education and tourism.”

Minister Varadkar will meet with tourist agents this afternoon and discussed the potential for developing the tourism market between Ireland and India. Later this evening, the Minister will attend a business dinner hosted by the Irish ambassador, focused on promoting business, networking and maximising Ireland as an attractive location for business.

The Minister concluded: “The meetings held today were extremely important and demonstrated there is great potential to develop our links further. The Irish economy is very flexible with a proven track record of fast adjustment. As part of the European Union, it continues to be a very attractive location for business and it offers full access to Europe’s 500 million customers; which is a very valuable asset.”