Tánaiste opens Wireless Seminar in Tokyo Tánaiste leads largest EI Trade Mission to Asia
Tánaiste Mary Harney today (Monday 12th March 2001), officially opened a seminar on wireless communications in Tokyo. The seminar provided 8 Irish companies with an opportunity to showcase their capabilities to 120 representatives from Japanese wireless operators and IT companies. The Tánaiste is leading the largest ever trade mission to Asia organised by Enterprise Ireland. There are 64 companies on the mission.
Speaking at the seminar the Tánaiste said "In the past decade our exports to Japan have increased by a factor of nine and for the first time Ireland will show a trading surplus for the year 2000. Our exports have grown by an estimated 63% with information technology, telecommunications and software products accounting for more than 40% of the total exports to Japan in 2000."
"Enterprise Ireland has identified new opportunities for the future and has put in place an ambitious strategy for the development of the next wave of Irish high technology businesses. Four major sectors have been identified – informatics, digital media, eBusiness and health sciences. Ireland is already a major eBusiness hub in Europe and it is expected that by the end of this year Ireland will have a quarter of all Europe’s broadband capacity", the Tánaiste said.
- Trade Mission to Japan 8-14 March 2001
- 64 companies in telecommunications, software, process control and instrumentation, engineering services and education.
- Japan is one of Ireland’s fastest growing export markets. In the past decade exports to the market have grown by a factor of nine. In 1999 exports to Japan totalled £1.5Bn and for the 10 month period Jan/Oct 2000 exports reached £2Bn. This makes Japan Ireland’s largest trading partner in Asia. For periods Jan/Oct 1999 - Jan/Oct 2000 Ireland’s exports showed a massive increase of 62%.
- The mission follows on the Asia Strategy announced by the Government in 1999. Also under the Asia Strategy, additional resources were allocated to the market to in301crease staff numbers in the Irish Embassy and to fund the Asia Awareness campaign in Japan.
