Tánaiste Embarks On 6 Day Trip To South East Asia

Mary Harney, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment today (Tuesday 8th February, 2000) embarked on a major political, trade and investment mission to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore for the next six days.

During her visit to Thailand the Tánaiste will give a special address at the 5th Annual Conference of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) and will also address the tenth UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Speaking as she departed the Tánaiste said "Asia is an important location to Ireland's long-term economic interests and it is essential that we effectively promote our economic interests in that part of the world. Considerable progress has been made with regard to enhancing our diplomatic and promotional representation in the region: - the Government has already decided to establish a new Embassy in Singapore and new Consulates-General in Shanghai and Sydney and Enterprise Ireland has also decided to assign representatives to those locations".

The Tánaiste's participation in the WAIPA and UN Conferences will underline Ireland's commitment to raising living standards for 4/5th of the worlds population who are living in developing countries.