Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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262. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if IDA Ireland put out a tender for a full-time United Arab Emirates based business development consultant in 2022, 2023 and to-date in 2024, in tabular form. [21417/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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An important element of IDA Ireland’s strategy is to diversify its market reach by broadening the geographic profile of investment. To support this objective, a ‘Pioneering Markets’ team was established within the Growth Markets Division of IDA in 2019, tasked with extending IDA’s global footprint. This approach has been supported by the appointment of a number of in-market part-time business development consultants located across multiple geographies who are responsible for identifying target companies with potential for investing in Ireland, engaging with senior decision-makers in these companies and promoting Ireland as an inward investment location.

I am advised that in relation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), IDA Ireland issued a part-time tender, for 2 days a week, in 2022. The successful candidate's contract commenced in January 2023 for a two-year term, with the option to extend for an additional 2 years.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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To support continued growth and business opportunities regionally, Enterprise Ireland (EI) established its representative offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2020. Amid the trend towards global diversification of supply chains in the manufacturing and processing industry, Vietnam is fast becoming a surging hub for FDI inflows in recent years.

The key objective of this EI office is to work with clients to ensure they are market-ready for Vietnam and that they have sufficient market intelligence in the Vietnam market, forming part of their overall internationalisation strategy.

Asia will be a central driver of future world growth dynamics, with economic forecasts (IMF 2023) suggesting that as much as 70% of global growth will come from the region. The economy of Vietnam is set to remain one of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) top performers since 2020, thanks to buoyant industrial activity, private consumption, and exports.

The EI Vietnam representative office is overseen by the Enterprise Ireland Director for ASEAN, based out of the Singapore office, with one staff member based in the Vietnam office as part of the wider team. Sectors of focus include International Education including Edutech, Financial Services and Fintech, High Tech Construction, Agritech, Life Sciences and Digital Health, Digital Technologies, IOT & Cybersecurity, Cleantech & Sustainability, Consumer Retail and Aviation.

EI’s Vietnam priorities, to deliver on 2024 growth objectives, will continue to focus on driving scale, proactively seeking new market opportunities, and assisting clients to build presence in market.

Enterprise Ireland in Vietnam facilitates and brokers introductions between client companies and key companies and decision-makers in the ASEAN region to achieve export growth. Scaling and diversification to the market is assisted through a one-to-one engagement with the market advisor in Vietnam. In addition to facilitating introductions and B2B meetings, EI provide support on market validation, competitor intelligence, value proposition, channel strategy, sales processes and establishing a market presence.

The work of EI in the region is also supported through Ministerial missions and events into Vietnam and wider ASEAN region, delegation visits from the region to Ireland, and many in-market events for clients.

Enterprise Ireland client companies' total exports to ASEAN, which includes Vietnam, increased to over €420m in 2022 - growth of over 85% since 2012.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Japan is the 6th largest investor globally by employment and the largest investor from the Asia Pacific region with strong cross-sectoral representation.

IDA Ireland’s Tokyo office was established in 1974 and is focused on attracting and maintaining foreign direct investment from Japanese enterprises across Information & Communication Technologies (ICT), Life Sciences (Pharmaceuticals & Medical Technologies) and Financial Services sectors.

The current team comprises 3 people including the Director for the Japan market, one marketing executive and an office/events manager. The Director for the Asia PAC region is also based in the Tokyo office. The team in Tokyo primarily engages in direct marketing and business development activities with potential Japanese clients, and co-ordinates high profile visits by Government delegations to Japan as well as visits by Japanese investors to Ireland.

The office has been successful in continuing the growth of Japanese FDI in Ireland. Currently there are 42 IDA Ireland supported Japanese client companies in Ireland, with 55 operations employing circa 8,000 people. Japanese investment is located across the country in line with the IDA's regional enterprise development objectives, with companies situated in Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Donegal, Waterford, Kildare, Dundalk, Wicklow and Galway. This number continues on an upward trajectory with investment in the form of new names, expansions and acquisitions steadily increasing, including the recent announcement by Astellas pharmaceutical to invest €330 million to build a new facility in Tralee.