Eoghan Murphy
Ceist:229 Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans to expand Ireland’s trade relationship with Turkey. [35158/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 17 July 2012
Ceisteanna (225)
Freagraí scríofa
Turkey is a significant market for Irish goods and services. Merchandise exports to Turkey have been developing strongly in recent years and in 2011 were worth over €457 million. In 2010 our services exports increased by 23% over the previous year and were worth €374 million. Trade Missions are a key instrument to promote growing trade opportunities in Turkey. In March of this year, Minister Costello led a delegation of 25 Enterprise Ireland companies to Istanbul and Ankara. Companies participating in this mission were drawn from sectors with particular growth potential in Turkey, in particular, ICT and telecoms, engineering, energy, financial services and life sciences. The trade mission also involved an intensive schedule of meetings with leaders of both public and private sector organisations, sectors that offer rich opportunities for Irish companies.
On a day to day basis, Enterprise Ireland actively supports Irish companies with a range of initiatives to build market awareness and accelerate sales growth into Turkey. The agency brokers relationships between Irish companies and key contacts in Turkey, and supports and encourages companies to recognise that market as an increasingly important destination for exports. In addition, Enterprise Ireland has built up an extensive network of local contacts and has developed a team of highly experienced pathfinders who work with their clients on a one to one basis to give specialised and company specific advice to individual exporters.