A multimedia agreement was signed yesterday in Melbourne by the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, and the acting premier of the state of Victoria, Mr Pat McNamara. Mr McNamara described the agreement as a "major coup" for Victoria, as Ireland was now regarded in Australia as the European hub of information technology and multimedia.
It would create opportunities for Victorian companies in Europe and for Irish companies in the Asia Pacific area, he said, at a ceremony attended by the representatives of six Irish companies visiting to establish themselves in the region.
Ms Harney leaves Melbourne this morning at the end of her 10-day trade and investment tour of Japan, New Zealand and Australia, the highlight of which was the announcement in Tokyo of almost 600 jobs. She and her officials will overnight in Hawaii before flying back to Dublin, arriving on Friday. En route to Hawaii, the Government jet will make a stopover in Western Samoa, where the Tanaiste will lobby the government there for support for Ireland to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council in the years 2001-2002.
The companies represented at yesterday's event in Melbourne were Baltimore Technologies, a world leader in encryption technology; Cylon Controls, which develops building management systems, and FM Systems, which markets software for online insurance underwriting and is establishing an office in Melbourne, Other companies were Spectel, a company specialising in audio conference software and hardware and already established in the Asia region; WBT Systems, which sells software for building online education and training, and Millennium Systems, specialising in Y2K solutions, which is opening offices in Sydney and Singapore.
Victoria, with a similar population to Ireland, is aiming to become the multimedia centre for the Asia Pacific region and has attracted some of the world's major IT and multimedia companies, including NEC, Ericcson, Fujitsu, Oracle, IBM, Nokia, Siemens, Nortel, Unisys, HewlettPackard and Ascend Communications, creating 10,000 jobs in four years, said Mr McNamara.
In this respect, it was matching Ireland's performance in Europe and that made it a logical business partner for Victoria as it prepared for the new millennium, he said. What was happening in Victoria mirrored development in Ireland, said Ms Harney, pointing out that there were 550 software companies in Ireland and that they would account for one third of all exports from the Republic of Ireland by the year 2000. There were 100 indigenous multimedia companies in the Republic and 120 owned by multinationals, she said. "This is not about anyone winning, it's about both of us winning," she added.
