HIGH TECH CONSTRUCTION TRADE MISSION GOES TO THE NETHERLANDS

Pat Breen, Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection led a two-day trade mission to the Netherlands recently, looking to further strengthen Irish construction ties with the Dutch construction industry.

Irish high-tech construction services in the Netherlands are currently experiencing a boom, with Irish companies delivering some of the Netherlands biggest data centres and pharmaceutical projects. Last year, construction services exports to the Netherlands by Enterprise Ireland supported companies more than doubled, with total exports to the Netherlands reaching €1.07 billion. The trade mission highlights the importance of the commercial and economic relationship between Ireland and the broader Benelux region. The Netherlands is the second largest export market for Enterprise Ireland supported companies in the Eurozone, making the country an ideal stepping-stone into the Eurozone against the backdrop of Brexit.

Future of Construction

During the two-day trade mission, Minister Breen attended a series of engagements with the Irish and Dutch construction sectors, including the Enterprise Ireland ‘Future of Construction’ seminar, bringing together Dutch and Irish industry to discuss the future of construction at the Delft University of Technology.

The seminar arranged in collaboration with the Dutch construction associations: Bouwend Nederland and the Dutch Datacenter Association, showcased Irish companies at the cutting edge of high-tech construction, including Kirby Group Engineering. A projected volume of €20.2 billion is forecast for Irish construction in 2020 and over the last 10 years, despite the global recession, the sector has delivered continuous growth in export sales year on year, growing by 12% between 2006 and 2016.