Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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37. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she will report on her recent trade and investment mission to the United Arab Emirates; the groups she met; the issues discussed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49605/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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From 13 to 15 November 2017, I led a Trade Mission to the United Arab Emirates and Oman, in which over 30 Enterprise Ireland client companies participated.  These companies represented sectors including aviation, technology and financial services and participated in 11 business events and over 200 meetings with potential clients.

My visit aimed to strengthen our ties with the UAE and with Oman; to provide support to Irish companies to further develop and expand their business; and to increase exports to the UAE and Oman.

Insofar as Deputy Wallace has asked about the UAE element of the mission, I had a very good bilateral meeting with H.E Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy of the UAE and with the UAE Minister of State for Advanced Sciences Sarah Al Amiri, at which we discussed areas of mutual economic interest between the UAE and Ireland and at which I highlighted particular developments and progress in Ireland.

At the Dubai Airshow I met with senior aviation leaders who are based in the UAE, with strong connections to Ireland, to discuss the opportunities for the aviation sector in Ireland to grow.  

I addressed audiences at a number of networking and business events, including the Dubai Irish Business Network and the Ireland Fintech Innovation Showcase at which I took the opportunity to support Irish companies seeking to increase their business in the region and to further raise the profile of Ireland as a world-class supplier of goods and services.  I also met with the Expo 2020 team in Dubai, where the World Expo will be held in three years time.

As part of the mission, eight Enterprise Ireland client companies including Dublin Aerospace, Botany Weaving, Aerospace Software Developments and the Atlantic Aviation Group exhibited at the Dubai Airshow which is one of the biggest aviation trade shows in the world.  At the Airshow a number of Enterprise Ireland client companies announced new deals, including:

- Botany Weaving, the Dublin based, world-leading manufacturer of aviation fabrics and carpets, announced that it has secured a multi-million dollar deal with a UAE airline to supply interior textiles. 

- TIC, whose IATA award winning software BizTweet is helping airports across four continents with automated passenger communications via social media, announced that it has signed a contract with a major UAE airport to implement BizTweet technology .  

- Aerospace Software Development, the Dublin based aerospace and aviation software solutions company, announced that it has secured another airline customer in the UAE. The company’s software will facilitate the tracking of Emergency Equipment on the new customer’s complete fleet of aircraft. This development represents continued growth in the implementation of the company’s business solutions in the Middle East.

- Flightman, a global leader in the provision of Connected Aircraft solutions to airlines, announced that Abu Dhabi based Royal Jet has selected Flightman as their software provider for their fleet wide Electronic Flight Bag deployment.

Our government policy is to support our indigenous Irish companies to expand and diversify and Trade and Investment Missions are vital in helping Irish business to enter new and emerging markets across the world.  Following the UK’s decision to leave the EU, I am working closely across Government, with our embassies, and with the agencies of my Department to continue to intensify their efforts to identify, grow and deepen our export potential across the globe.  To that end, over 40 international trade visits have been planned for this year.