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Minister Bruton departs on 5-day 6-city trade and investment mission to USA

IDA leg of mission includes 10 meetings with multinational companies in

Chicago area, focused on life sciences

27 Irish companies participating in 14 meetings and events on Enterprise

Ireland Texas leg of mission targeting opportunities in oil and gas sector

4th May, 2014

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, today

(Sunday) departs on a 5-day, 6-city trade and investment mission to Texas

and the Mid-Western USA, organised by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland.

This is Minister Bruton’s 20th major trade/investment mission since taking

office 38 months ago. This Government has doubled the number of trade

missions since taking office.

The 5-day mission to Houston, Austin, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Grand Rapids

and Chicago includes two legs:

· 2-day mission to Texas organised by Enterprise Ireland with

delegation of 27 Irish companies, including 14 meetings and events

targeting opportunities in oil and gas sector

· 3-day mission to Mid West organised by IDA Ireland, including 10

one-on-one meetings with major multinational companies, focused

particularly on pharma, medical devices and tech sectors

The programme also includes interviews with US media as part of the

strategy to communicate Ireland’s recovery around the world, and a meeting

with Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Speaking before departing this weekend, Minister Bruton said:

“At the very heart of our Action Plan for Jobs is our determination to

drive an export-led recovery. Straight after coming into office we took

action to deliver this, and in the past three years we have taken steps

like increasing the numbers of EI and IDA staff in overseas markets,

establishing new divisions within the agencies to target new opportunities,

and doubling the number of trade missions. This has shown real results,

with more than 12,000 jobs added in exporting companies in the past year

alone.

“In Texas the rapidly-growing oil and gas sector offers massive

opportunities for Irish companies. Large US companies in this area need

innovative businesses to supply them with goods and services to solve

problems thrown up by their rapid growth, and Irish companies in sectors

like engineering and technology can fill this gap. In this way these

companies can grow their export sales and ultimately grow their employment

in Ireland.

“The Mid West is home to some of the world’s leading life sciences and

technology companies. I look forward to meeting many of them and seeking to

persuade them to expand their existing operations or to establish

operations in Ireland for the first time.

“I am hopeful that the programme of this week can yield real results in

terms of increased export sales, new FDI projects, and ultimately jobs for

Ireland in the near future”.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Action Plan for Jobs includes a commitment by Government to carry out

an intensive programme of Ministerial-led trade and investment missions.

Since the Plan was launched in early 2012 the number of trade missions led

by Enterprise Ireland, for example, has doubled, from an average of 8.5

(2007-2011) to an average of 17 (2012 and 2013).

This is Minister Bruton’s 20th major trade/investment mission in almost

three years since taking office in March 2011.

The 19 previous missions undertaken comprise:

· Six IDA investment missions to the USA, three to the east coast, two

to the west coast and one encompassing the East Coast, South and

Mid-West

· Six Enterprise Ireland trade missions, one to Texas, one to the

south-eastern USA, one to India, one to Saudi Arabia and India, one

to Canada and one to France accompanied by hundreds of Irish

companies looking to break into new export markets

· A 7-day joint EI/IDA mission to China led by the Taoiseach in 2012,

and a further joint EI/IDA mission to China and Japan led by Minister

Bruton in 2013

· A EI mission to the Gulf led by the Taoiseach in January 2011

· A joint trade mission to Singapore and Malaysia with the UK and NI

Governments

· A 5-day EI/IDA trip to the west coast of the USA built around St

Patrick’s Day 2012

· A 4-day mission to Germany around St Patrick’s Day 2013, and a 2-day

mission to Germany around St Patrick’s Day 2011, including a series

of meetings arranged by IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia and

Tourism Ireland.

PROGRAMME

Sunday May 4th - Dublin to Austin

4.05PM Arrive Austin

5.50PM EI & Bord Bia Briefing Dinner

7.30PM Attend Austin Trade Mission Networking event

Monday May 5th – Austin to Houston

7.20AM Breakfast with EI Clients & US Customers

9.30AM In light of the agreement in principle to establish

'Techshop Dublin' on

DCU Innovation Campus, Minister Bruton will visit the

Techshop facility in Austin, to review their unique

hardware innovation platform with Paul Duggan MD Techshop

International. Techshop has been described as 'America's

most important start up' and is an open access

fabrication studio or 'maker space', which lowers the

barriers for inventors, entrepreneurs and existing

businesses looking to prototype new hardware innovations,

through the provision of high-end digital and advanced

manufacturing tools on a subscription basis.

11.00AM Meeting with Governor Perry

12.00PM Interviews with US media

12.20PM Ministerial Lunch with EI clients & US partner companies

2.00PM Meeting with EI company, food sector

3.00PM Depart for Houston by Road

6.30PM Arrive Houston, EI Offshore Technology Conference

Networking

Event

8.20PM Briefing dinner

Tuesday May 6th - Houston

07.20AM Breakfast with EI Clients & US partner companies

09.00AM Meeting with EI company, engineering sector

10.00AM Visit to Offshore Technology Conference

11:30AM Meeting with EI company, energy sector

12.20PM Lunch with EI Clients & US partner companies

1.45PM Depart for Airport

3.45PM Fly Houston to Indianapolis

Conclusion of EI leg of the Trade Mission

20:00 EST Dinner with IDA company, pharma sector

Wednesday, May 7th 2014

09:00-11:0 Meet with IDA company, pharma sector

13:51 EST Fly from Indianapolis to Cleveland

16:00 EST Meet with IDA company, energy sector

19:30 EST Dinner with IDA company

Thursday, May 8th

08:31 EST Fly Cleveland to Grand Rapids, Michigan

11.00 EST Meet with IDA company, pharma sector

Drive to Chicago

16:00 CST Meet with IDA company, tech sector

19:00 CST Dinner with IDA Ireland clients

Friday, May 9th

08:00 CST Meet with IDA company, tech sector

10:00 CST Meet with IDA company, manufacturing sector

12:30 CST Meet with IDA company, pharma sector

14:15 CST Meet with IDA company, medical devices sector

15:45 CST Meet with IDA company, pharma sector

20:00 CST Depart for Dublin