On October 12th 2005 Enterprise Ireland held a Connecting with Canada seminar in Glasnevin, Dublin. This seminar was set up as a way of exploring innovative business models and market opportunities for Irish companies in Canada. I am pleased to inform you that I was asked to participate on a panel and give a presentation on the Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce in Toronto.
 

The intention of this trip was two fold a) to further solidify our relationship with Enterprise Ireland and b) to give our Chamber exposure in Ireland and how we can help those Irish companies get a start here in Canada. I can report to you we succeeded on both fronts. There was a large group in attendance 55 companies including the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland His Excellency Mr. Mark Moher, and many from the Canadian Trade Commission. The morning started with an opening address from His Excellency Mark Moher followed by a presentation by Richard Philippe, Senior Trade Commissioner, Canadian Trade Commission Services. There were specific case studies and practical experiences provided by three Irish companies doing business in Canada. Something you may not know is IAWS and their brand Cuisine De France has a joint venture with Tim Horton’s and it is Irish technology that provides us with the consistent taste of Tim’s donuts. In the second session there were three presentations on Partnerships, Alliances and Networks; this is the panel I was on. The closing remarks were provided by Gerry Murphy, Executive Director, International Sales and Partnering, Enterprise Ireland.

In talks with Fred Klinkenberg, EI Canada country manager, the Connecting with Canada Seminar was a big success. On Friday last he told me the results of their survey from the day showed 80% said it was a very good seminar and the remaining 20% said it was a good seminar (not bad!). In an informal survey held during one of the sessions about 75% of the audience agreed that they would be interested in participating in a trade mission to Canada. I have attached a copy of the presentation I gave for your review, including some photographs.

This link will take you to their website where you can view a copy of the brochure and all the presentations.
Download Powerpoint presentation of the trip

Further to this, on Wednesday October 19th Enterprise Ireland held a trade mission dinner with a group of engineers from Ireland and I would like to thank Cormac Monaghan, Michael Power and Anita Sands for attending and representing the Chamber. We have an excellent opportunity to connect with Ireland and bring further value to you, our membership in the future.

Should anyone have any further specific questions about the trip please feel free to give me a ring.

Sincerely,

Ken Tracey

click images to enlarge