Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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310. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans to have a trade mission to South Africa; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40716/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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A Trade Mission to South Africa and Nigeria is planned for 11 - 15 November 2013. The Trade Mission will be led by Mr Joe Costello, T.D. Minister of State, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for Trade & Development. The Trade Mission is part of Enterprise Ireland's ongoing commitment to drive trade with Africa and will cover Johannesburg, Cape Town and Lagos. There will be a strong focus on some of the key growth sectors as identified in the Enterprise Ireland market strategy for South Africa, these include: Telecommunications, Education and Financial Services Technologies. The Trade Mission will coincide with AfricaCom, the annual Pan-African exhibition and congress for all telecommunications professionals where there will be an Ireland stand with Enterprise Ireland clients participating.

The objectives of this mission are as follows: To raise Ireland's profile as a trading partner in Africa and to emphasise the message that “Ireland is open for business”; and to increase Irish exports to Southern and Western Africa.

Africa is one of the fastest growing economic regions in the world. Southern Africa and West Africa are two of the keygrowth regions in Africa with growth of 3% and 9% forecasted respectively for 2013. Enterprise Ireland has made a strong commitment to Africa by opening its first office in 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The main objective of this office is to pro-actively support Irish companies to export to the Region (over 300 Enterprise Ireland clients are currently exporting to the Region) and to actively drive export growth.