Enterprise Ireland Dubai Hosts Irish Minister at Arab Health 2013

DUBAI, UAE, January 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Number of Irish healthcare companies under the organisation's umbrella exporting to the UAE set to quadruple by 2016

Enterprise Ireland Dubai, the regional arm of the Irish government organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets, welcomed Minister Costello TD, Irish Minister of State for Trade and Development to its pavilion at this year's Arab Health exhibition.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130130/591165 )

The organisation is fundamental in creating links between Irish businesses and overseas partners to build mutually profitable international commerce relationships - a role in which the life sciences sector is playing an increasingly important part. In 2011, healthcare companies represented 10% of Enterprise Ireland's total exporters in the MENA region, a figure that is expected to increase dramatically to around 40% over the next three years.

Enterprise Ireland is joined at Arab Health by 14 of its leading client companies within the industry. On the National stand these include AmRay Medical (provider of radiation protection products), Finesse Medical (wound care), Lincor (healthcare IT), Millmount Healthcare (pharmaceutical packaging & storage), Oneview (healthcare IT), Sims IVF (Ireland's largest fertility clinic), Takumi Precision (medical aid manufacturers) and Tog Orthotics (manufacturer of orthotic products).

Minister Costello said, "Ireland is well established as a global centre of excellence in the area of medical technology. The sector brings together multinational companies and Irish owned companies - employing 25,000 people - and we are bringing representatives of both to Dubai to participate in Arab Health."

He continued, "The sector is of enormous importance to Ireland but we are not resting on our laurels. The Government and the medical technology sector together continue to support research-led innovation, to ensure that we remain at the forefront of this industry."

Sean Davis Regional Manager at Enterprise Ireland Dubai added, "Ireland has over 250 highly innovative life sciences companies that have been active in European and US markets for some time. We feel there is a strong match between their products and services and the areas of demand in this region. The Emirates and Etihad services to Dublin mean our companies can easily connect to anywhere in the GCC via Dubai or Abu Dhabi."

Minister Costello joined representatives from Enterprise Ireland at an evening reception on January 29^th themed "Healthcare Innovation Made in Ireland" and held in conjunction with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Dubai (RCSI-Dubai) and the Irish Embassy.

He commented, "The RCSI has, over the last 20-30 years, built a wonderful reputation here in the Gulf region. They have built this through the quality of their teaching and their long-term commitment but most of all they have built this reputation on the work of their graduates. I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet with so many of these graduates - graduates from both the College in Dublin and the Leadership Institute in Dubai."

Notes to editor:

• The medical technologies industry is of key importance to the Irish economy and has continued to grow year on year despite the global recession and the challenges facing Ireland.
• Ireland is now globally recognised as a major centre of excellence in the medical technologies sector and the Irish cluster is now on par with some of the world's leading medtech clusters such as those in Massachusetts and Minnesota, USA.
• The sector employs 25,000 people directly in Ireland and had exports in excess of €7.3bn in 2011 - up 14% on 2008 levels.
• Our indigenous lifesciences sector now consists of over 250 Enterprise Ireland client companies. In 2010 this sector contributed over €1bn in sales, €760m in exports and employed over 6,000 people.
• Enterprise Ireland is a significant partner in Ireland's R&D and VC ecosystem, proving many 10's millions of Euro each year to continue to foster the development of innovative healthcare tech
• For more information contact Enterprise Ireland's Life-Sciences Advisor for the MENA region Eamon Sikafi on +971-4-3760 400 or visit http://www.enterprise-ireland.com
  

SOURCE Enterprise Ireland