John Whelan, Chief Executive of the Irish Exporters Association (IEA), which represents over 80% of Irish Exporting firms, today announced a new programme to support Irish companies seeking to find new buyers, new suppliers and new partners in China, the IEA "China Business Support Programme", stating ;

‘’China’s GDP for the first quarter of 2009 continued to grow at an annualised rate of 6.1%. This is mainly driven by domestic demand in China, and hence clearly offers continued major opportunities for Irish Exporters, in an otherwise very bleak international scene.’’

This programme will be officially announced at a civic reception at Dublin's City Hall on Tuesday April 21^st, hosted by Cllr Eibhlin Byrne, Lord Mayor of Dublin, at which Mr Cai Qi, Mayor of Hangzhou, China, will sign a bilateral trade agreement with the IEA. The Mayor of Hangzhou will be accompanied by a delegation of 20 senior government leaders, which is one of the largest delegations ever to visit Ireland from China.

According to John Whelan: ’’Last year exports to China rose by 17%, one of the few markets where Irish exports continued to grow. The goal of this programme is to continually assist Irish companies, to enter, compete and trade effectively in the China market, in a professionally supported manner to ensure long term success in this large and complex market.’

The IEA Director for China, Niall O' Reilly, who is based in Hangzhou, is originally from Dublin and has lived and worked in China for the past 20 years. "Rather than focusing on the whole China market, this programme intends to encourage Irish businesses to adopt a more focussed 'One City - One Province' China market strategy. Given the current economic challenges in Ireland, China's emerging market is being viewed as a very attractive market to Irish exporters." he said.

Hangzhou, which FORBES CHINA™ for the past five years has ranked the China’s best business city, is the capital of Zhejiang Province and lies just south of Shanghai at the southern tip or the Yangtze River Delta, China’s economic powerhouse.

The IEA "China Business Support Programme" will offer Irish companies support in Ireland (advice and assistance with export information, visas, travel etc) and in China (advice and assistance with trading with China, finding buyers/suppliers/partners) in a supported environment.

For further information, please contact Radia Bounouba, Business Services Executive, at the Irish Exporters Association(01)6612182ext 3.

About the Irish Exporters Association (IEA)

The IEA represents the needs of export industry ensuring that the necessary conditions are created and the necessary support is provided to assist companies to maximise their export sales. The IEA draws its membership from every exporting sector, ensuring that the interests of all industries are represented and promoted at the highest level.

http://www.irishexporters.ie/