The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore, T.D., will today chair the first meeting of the Export Trade Council (ETC) of 2014, at which he will present the findings of the recently-completed Review of the Government’s Trade, Tourism and Investment Strategy.
This is a mid-term review of the Strategy, ‘Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy’, which was published in 2010 and sets out targets for trade, tourism and inward investment to be met by 2015.
Today’s meeting of the ETC will examine the findings of the Review of the Strategy ahead of its publication later this month. The findings were approved by a special jobs-focussed meeting of the Cabinet this morning.
The Tánaiste will be joined by Government ministers and CEOs of State agencies involved in promoting trade, tourism and investment abroad, along with private sector members of the Council, including IBEC and the Irish Exporters Association.
The Council will also discuss the agreed list of trade missions to be led by Government ministers for Enterprise Ireland in 2014, and the trade and investment-focussed programme of Ministerial travel for the 2014 St. Patrick’s Day period. Both programmes will be announced jointly on Monday, February 17.
Speaking ahead of today’s meeting at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Tánaiste said:
“This Review of the Government’s Trade, Tourism and Investment Strategy was designed to ensure that the resources of the State – both the embassy network and State agencies – are positioned to take full advantage of new opportunities in key emerging markets and to keep delivering in our established markets. As the recovery takes hold, we must continue to deliver maximum overall benefit for the economy – meaning good jobs for our people at home in Ireland.
We will also review Local Market Team plans for 2014 in our priority markets. These teams, which are chaired by our ambassadors, coordinate the work of embassies and State agencies on the ground in these markets in order to deliver on the Government’s ambitious trade, tourism and investment targets.”
Members of the Council, who are tasked with overseeing implementation of the strategy, will also be updated on progress made in 2013 against targets for trade, tourism and inward investment by representatives of the State agencies.
Press Office
6 February, 2014
Note for Editors:
The Export Trade Council (ETC), which is chaired by An Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore, T.D, was established in 2011 in order to strengthen cooperation and coordination across all Government Departments and State agencies involved in the promotion of trade, tourism and inward investment.
The ETC oversees the implementation of the Government’s Trade, Tourism and Investment Strategy, ‘Trading and Investment in a Smart Economy’, which was published in 2010.
The strategy sets out targets for trade, tourism and investment to be met by 2015, as well as a programme of actions conducive to achieving these targets. Following a Government decision taken on January 17, 2013, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was tasked with coordinating a short, focused review of the Strategy, in close cooperation with the relevant State agencies and Government Departments.
The Review will be launched in the coming weeks.
The members of the Council include: Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, T.D., Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, T.D., and Minister of State for Trade and Development, Joe Costello, T.D.
The State agencies that work closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the embassy network in promoting trade, tourism and investment are also represented on the Council at CEO level: IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, Bord Bia, Tourism Ireland and Forfás.
The private sector is also represented on the Council by IBEC and the Irish Exporters Association, as well as by a number of business people with a track record in the relevant sectors.
The Tánaiste recently published the first annual report of the economic and promotional work undertaken abroad by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade -
Ireland’s Economic Diplomacy in Action 2013. The report shows how the embassy network continues to play a crucial role in supporting the Government’s Strategy to increase trade, tourism and investment in Ireland.
More information about the proposed expansion of the Embassy network is available
here.