Minister Richmond welcomes trade officials from developing countries for study visit

Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, Neale Richmond TD, has welcomed 18 trade officials from countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean, including from Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to a two-day study visit in Ireland.

The visit is part of Irish Aid’s ‘Aid for Trade' programme which supports countries in the developing world to integrate into the global trading system. This work strives to ensure that global trade leads to the creation of safe and decent jobs in the Global South while respecting the environment and human rights.

Minister Richmond welcomed the group to Ireland and said:

The story of Ireland’s economic transformation is very relevant for developing economies that are looking to build their trading links around the world. As a small and open economy that is highly networked globally, I believe Ireland’s experience can help others to increase trade and ultimately improve the lives of people by creating decent jobs and economic growth.

The visit was part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s partnership with the World Trade Organisation in support of the French-Irish Mission Programme (FIMiP), a training programme jointly funded by Ireland and France that supports trade officials from the developing world to spend 10 months in Geneva at their countries’ missions to the WTO. The aim of the programme is to build participants’ understanding of the multilateral trading system, trade policy and the WTO negotiation process, and to boost the capacity of missions in Geneva.

The visit was also an opportunity to share Ireland’s learning and show-case our expertise on trade and investment as a small, open economy and member of the EU.

To facilitate networking and relationship-building, participants met with Enterprise Ireland, the Industrial Development Agency, Sustainable Food Systems Ireland, the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights, and the Small Firms Association.

The Institute of International and European Affairs gave a presentation on Ireland’s experience in the European single market.

On the final day, Dawn Farms, headquartered in Daans, hosted the group to share their own story as an family-owned company with a global reach.