The Bord Bia trade mission to Malaysia and the Philippines has now concluded after a ‘Tastes of Ireland’ event in Manila.
The event which was held at the Grand Hyatt hotel showcased Irish food and beverage offerings to potential local suppliers and customers in the Philippines.
Today (Thursday, November 9) marked the end of four-day long trade mission to Southeast Asia where dairy, pigmeat, poultry and beef was promoted.
Trade mission
Leading the trade mission, Minister of State for new market development, Martin Heydon, said: “We are today (November 9) concluding what has been a very successful trade mission to the Southeast Asia region focused on Malaysia and the Philippines, two markets worth over a combined €200 million in exports last year.”
This trade mission follows on from the whole of government mission to Korea last week.
Minister Heydon said that trade mission again highlighted the commitment that government has to Irish farmers and the agri-food sector to ensure we are present in the widest range of markets possible.
“That not only helps us to grow the value of our exports, by positioning products in the places where it will get the best return, but it also increases our resilience to any market shocks, like what we unfortunately saw with China this week,” he said.
Commenting further, the minister said: “The Philippines is an excellent example of that diversification.
“Since the market opened in 2014 for beef, our exports here have grown to €50 million making it the largest third country market for Irish beef and there is certainly scope for that to grow given the positive meetings I have held this week with some of the largest importers and users of beef in the market here.”
Bord Bia
Speaking to Agriland, Jim O’Toole Bord Bia chief executive officer (CEO) said: “It has been a busy week, one of my colleagues has noted that between all the engagements there has been 270 meetings between customers and potential customers.
“This is along with meeting with the government authorities in Malaysia and the Philippines”.
O’Toole said that there is a sense of optimism among the participants, that while exports have grown significantly to Southeast Asia, there is still a lot of prospects to be developed.
He also noted that the Southeast Asian market is an opportunity for dairy, beef, pigmeat and poultry – which he says helps to establish relationships with importers of Irish food products.