Irish Government Minster of State for Research and Innovation leads business Mission to Switzerland

Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Government Agency responsible for developing Irish industry, is organising a 3 day program to develop business links with Switzerland. The Mission will be by Minister Seán Sherlock, TD, Department of Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation, who will be accompanied by 65 Irish companies spanning the sectors: Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Engineering, Construction, ICT and Financial Services companies.

With a full day in each of the main business cities: Geneva, Basel and Zurich, the program will incorporate expert speaker seminars, Swiss-Irish networking lunches and dinners, meetings with major Swiss Corporations & Research Institutions and new contract signings between Irish and Swiss companies. Swiss Politicians and Senior Swiss Business Executives are amongst the guests who have been invited to attend the events.

Switzerland has experienced consistently strong economic growth and is that it home to many Fortune 500 companies. Despite its relatively small population Switzerland is Ireland’s 5th largest export market ahead of larger countries like France, Italy, Spain or the Netherlands.

Over 200 Irish owned companies are doing sustained business there offering a wealth of innovative products and services to the Pharma and Medical Devices, IT, Construction, Engineering and NGO sectors in Switzerland. Growth figures for exports from Irish indigenous companies are particularly impressive: over 50% growth in exports in the last 3 years.

Recognising that there is still a lot to be learned from this economic giant, approximately 65 Enterprise Ireland supported companies from the aforementioned clusters will take part in sector-specific workshops and seminars. These will be presented by Swiss decision-makers who will offer sector specific advice to the visiting group.

The Irish business Network will take an active role in the events. This Irish Government led initiative was established in 2009 in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Embassy to connect Irish in Switzerland and Swiss with Irish interests. The organisation now has over 350 members across Switzerland.

Activities begin in Geneva on Wednesday June 11th and culminate with a day’s financial services activities on Friday June 13th.