Irish Exporters Association representatives will appear before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade this Wednesday morning to consider trade links with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Founded in 1967, ASEAN comprises10 Southeast Asian member states with a combined population of 609 million. Trade in goods between Ireland and the 10 countries amounted to just over €2.4 billion in 2013 and just over €2.5 billion last year.
Committee chairman, Pat Breen said, “The recent opening of Irish Embassies in Indonesia and Thailand brings to five the number of resident embassies in a bloc of countries with a rapidly expanding middle class. The meeting with the Irish Exporters Association will provide an opportunity for our committee to explore how Ireland can best position itself to take advantage of these new opportunities.”
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.