County Kildare Chamber, South Dublin Chamber, Fingal Dublin Chamber, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Chamber and a delegation of Donegal Businesses supported by Udaras na Gaeltacht are undertaking a joint trade mission to Scotland.
This Trade Mission is part of our response to Brexit. Chambers will be bringing local SME’s to Scotland to see first-hand the opportunities that exist for them to do business there. Our timing for this trade mission is very opportune with the UK Parliament having its vital vote on Brexit on the 29th March. A part of our Trade Mission will be a meeting with Ivan McKee MSP Scottish Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation who we hope will provide an understanding of any new arrangements being considered for trade between the UK and Ireland.
An additional benefit to four chambers collaborating on this event will be extending the business to business connections available to those taking part. These additional connections may provide partnership opportunities or logistical supports for new business ventures in Scotland. In Scotland each participating business will have the opportunity to meet two or three Scottish businesses in their business area of choice as part of the detailed programme.
South Dublin Chamber have a long standing relationship with West Lothian and Ayrshire Chambers and they together with the Scottish Chambers of Commerce will be our hosts in Scotland.
We have been strongly supported in our work in Scotland by the Consul General Mark Hanniffy and his colleagues and we will be linking up with the Consul General’s office on this Trade Mission.
Agencies on the Scottish side who are participating and providing support for our Trade Mission include, Scottish Government, Scottish Development International / Inward Investment and West Lothian County Council.
The Trade Mission will take place 3rd-5th April 2019
Our objective in bringing SMES to Edinburgh and its environs is;
- Provide an understanding of the Post Brexit UK environment, the UK is due to leave the EU on March 29th 2019
- Provide insights to the opportunities of doing business in the UK
- Provide opportunities through direct networking to meet Scottish SMEs
- To hear from the Scottish agencies what supports are available to Irish SMEs to do business in Scotland / UK
- To visit exemplars of Scottish Industry and see at first hand examples of Scottish business success
- To promote Ireland to Scottish Business as a good place to do business and a gateway to the EU.
We will also be joined on this visit by a number of businesses from Donegal through an Udaras na Gaeltacht mission so there will be further opportunities for our participating SMEs to discuss possible partnerships or business to business engagements relating to entering a new market such as Scotland with other Irish businesses.
The Scottish government have confirmed they will host a reception in Edinburgh Castle in the Great Hall on Thursday 4th April which is not normally available to trade delegations.
For further information, contact Allan Shine – allan@countykildarechamber.ie 045 894074