Tánaiste Announces €10m New Business for Irish Companies in Canada

Enterprise Ireland Trade Mission to Canada Concludes

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan today (Thursday 22^nd October 2009) announced that contracts and agreements €10m have been concluded by Irish companies during this week's Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Canada. 

The trade mission involved 35 companies from sectors including software, telecoms and financial services who participated in the mission with the aim of growing their exports and extend their trade links with Canada. Growing Irish exports in overseas markets is fundamental to Ireland’s economic future and to securing and creating jobs in Ireland.

Concluding the mission, the Tánaiste said: "I am very pleased to be able to announce that the work of this trade mission resulted in €10m of business for Irish-owed companies. Canada is a market with significant potential for Irish goods and services but it is also one that demands quality, innovative, customer-focussed products and solutions. These deals are therefore highly significant and are hard won by Irish companies with a dedication to quality and innovation.

“This impressive result is a clear demonstration of our companies’ strong commitment to doing business in Canada but also of the faith that Canadian industry has in the capability and potential of Irish owned companies. This augurs well for future Irish business ventures to this high potential and critical export market.”

Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Ireland Frank Ryan added: "Enterprise Ireland client companies have been successful in Canada across a wide range of industries and sectors and, if we build on this, we can expect a major acceleration of trade and investment between our two countries over the next few years.

“Enterprise Ireland’s team in the region will continue to actively foster partnerships for Irish and Canadian businesses and promote quality and innovative Irish products. We will continue to work with Irish and Canadian companies and agencies to ensure that Ireland and Canada realise this significant potential for even more relationships, strategic alliances, joint ventures, product/process licensing and collaborative R&D.”

Among the announcements made by Enterprise Ireland client companies during this week’s trade mission to Canada were:

Lincor Solutions Ltd announced a multimillion Euro contract to install its innovative MEDIVista solution in the renowned London Health Sciences Center (LHSC), in Ontario Canada. The initial phase of the contract involves installation at 300 beds of the 1,000 bed LHSC campus.

3V launched its flagship pay-as-you-go VISA voucher product in Canada on conjunction with People’s Card Services, a division of Peoples Trust Bank and Ventek Systems lnc. Launched in October 2005 in Ireland, 3V now has over 400,000 customers and operates in both the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.The company employs 23 full time staff at its company headquarters in Dublin.

IdentiGEN announced the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary in Canada as part of its growing business in that region. IdentiGEN provides DNA-based meat traceability solutions to scientifically track meat from the farm to the retail store. The company also announced a research agreement with the University of Alberta in Edmonton to collaborate on genomics research in livestock to improve value chains.

Bórd na Mona signed a distribution agreement with Canada’s EMCO Waterworks Division for its Puraflo® system - the eco-friendly, high- performance, low-energy natural solution for residential and community wastewater treatment applications where simple, reliable operation and maintenance are required.  

Execpass.com was launchedin Canada during the mission. The service allows users to look at investment opportunities for both companies and executives as well as providing a captive forum for the sharing of ideas and the solving of business-related problems within an Executive peer group.

Galway company Lifes2good announced a distribution deal with Purity Life, a SunOpta company, to the value of C$2M over the next two years. Purity will be listing the Viviscal Extra Strength Supplements and supporting Lifes2good with Retail and Sales assistance across Canada. Viviscal is the #1 selling hair supplement worldwide.

The Leading Edge Group which specialises in developing international educational and training programs signed a partnership with the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) for a new and innovative Lean Healthcare education partnership that is aimed at preparing healthcare professionals and organisations to increase efficiencies and improve organisational performance.

S3 Group Silicon & Software Systems Ltd (S3), a world leading provider of mixed-signal semiconductor IP solutions, announced a licensing partnership with Intellon Corporation – a leader in powerline communications technology.

VigiTrust, which provides security assessments and security eLearning solutions announced the launch of SAMS for the Canadian market. SAMS, which stands for Security Accreditation Management System, is a SaaS based compliance management tool that enables organisations to take control of their PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance projects.

The Tánaiste will now visit New York, where she will meet with various US multinationals. Her principal focus will be on attracting new US investment and jobs to Ireland.

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Photo of Tánaiste meeting with Canadian Minister of International Trade, Mr. Stockwell Day, M.P. sent to Picture Desks

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